Straight Jacket Feeling
by Bbg25
Summary: Meet Chloe Saunders. She's the newest student at Silverleaf Academy. It's not until she finds herself in another impossible situation alongside someone with an even worse attitude than hers that she realizes that she might just be in a little over her head. Has Chloe finally found someone she can trust with her secret? Or is she destined for a straight jacket?
1. Welcome To Silverleaf

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back. Here's that story I was going on about. It's a little rough, I didn't get to finish my editing which... Grrr, makes me a bit mad but I got it out here to you guys as fast as I could. My cousins are in town, total buzz kills. I've been out every day for _hours._ Absolutely no rest for the wicked.**

 **Uh, this is my _official_ first story. For those of you who are reading this after my test run, I would like to say that I am so sorry. :( I never meant for it to get so lengthy and it was really holding me back from writing so I had to just cut it off at the knees. I hope you all don't hate me for it. I was using it to help me get a feel for the whole author thing. I always planned on deleting it, I only wish I could have finished it before it got so crazy. **

**But yeah, here is my newest story, so enjoy. Title Inspired by All American Rejects song Straight Jacket Feeling ;) Take a listen, it's wonderful**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Welcome To Silverleaf**

As a never ending blur of trees passed by the window, Chloe felt another wave of annoyance wash over her. It wasn't as if she hadn't switched schools before. Actually, it was normal that she would shift schools every few months because of her father's job responsibilities. Even though this move was different, it wasn't what stemmed her annoyance either. What annoyed her was the reason that she was being forced to attend this stuck-up rich kid boarding school. And that reason was clear as day. They thought she was crazy. By they, Chloe meant her aunt and father. They were the only family she had and they thought she was crazy. She couldn't figure out what annoyed her more, the part where they thought she was crazy or the fact that this was the first thing that they actually agreed on in almost seventeen years.

"Chloe, are you really not going to say anything to me?" Aunt Lauren asked as she made yet another turn. Chloe kept staring out the windows, uneasily watching the trees go by. "Chloe, you know we're only doing this for your own good. A change of scenery is just what you need to get yourself… better."

Chloe snorted, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't need to get better, Aunt Lauren. There is nothing wrong with me, I don't need to be fixed."

"And I don't think you need to be fixed either, honey," she replied, looking at Chloe out of the corner of her eyes. "I do think that you need some time away from the pressures of… public school. And this is an amazing school."

"It's called Silverleaf Academy, Aunt Lauren. The name brings thoughts of annoying, stuck up pricks and entitled children. How can going here of all places help me? Especially after I told you how much I hated private school and now you're forcing me to live in one."

"Chloe, it's a boarding school open to everyone from town. It's not even technically a private school so I would appreciate if you stopped judging books by their covers." Her aunt sighed. "And, well, there isn't really anywhere else to send you right now, Chloe. After your little… incident, you were kicked out of Buffalo High, and this was the best school we could find on such short notice. Not to mention that you're a legacy! I think you'll love it here."

Chloe just rolled her eyes at that as they finally broke through the trees to the school courtyard. She knew that her mother, father and aunt all attended this school when they were younger. Chloe also knew that her mother hated this school with every fiber of her being. If she hadn't, Chloe would have been enrolled in one of the feeder schools back in town and she could gladly say that she had enjoyed public school for quite a few years, no thanks to her aunt. The last ten years had been a dizzying mix of private schools and public schools, alternating whenever she moved to a new place. At least back then, she actually had a say in the type of school she was being carted off too. Chloe had actually managed to get her dad to register in a few public schools when her aunt had tried to shove uniforms and order down her throat. But after the last few months, she would be lucky to convince her dad of anything.

"Do you have everything you need?" Aunt Lauren asked, looking at the back seat warily. "It's not very much."

Chloe un-clipped her seat belt with a sigh, rolling her neck around once before looking into the back. Her aunt was right, there wasn't much in the suitcase. But it was more than enough for her stay in this posh prison. Other than her laptop and her camera, she didn't really need anything else. "Yes. Stop worrying so much, I'll be fine."

"Do you want me to come in—"

"No," Chloe interrupted quickly, straightening up from where she had slouched in the seat. "You are not walking me in. I don't need that kind of reputation hanging over my head before I've even gotten to my room."

Her aunt frowned, adjusting her glasses as she peered at her niece. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that I don't want to be known as the girl who can't even get to the front office by herself without an adult looking over her shoulder. It isn't fun." Chloe sighed, opening the car door and stepping out. Stretching her body out minutely, she turned and stuck her head back into the car giving her aunt a small fake smile that she had mastered years ago. "I know you mean the best, but no kid wants that hanging over her head. Especially since I'm coming in a month after school starts in the middle of the day. It's like putting a neon light over my back and saying, kick me."

Aunt Lauren's frown depended but she nodded nonetheless as Chloe closed the door and proceed to take her suitcase and bag out of the car. "I'll be on call for the rest of the week, but call me and I'll try my hardest to pick up. I want to know how it's going as soon as you're settled in."

"Yeah, okay," Chloe replied, slightly exasperated as she shifted her bag on her shoulder. "Bye, Aunt Lauren. I'll see you in a few weeks."

With a nod and one last worried look, Chloe's aunt drove away, leaving Chloe standing in the count yard in front of the steps of the school. Looking around, Chloe was enchanted by the actual appearance of the school. The courtyard contained one of the most gorgeous fountains that she had ever seen. It sat in the middle of a beautiful green grass circle that ended as it approached the road that her Aunt had just drove away. The fountain was made of what looked like white marble with beautiful designs carved in all around the base. It was simple, a few circular rings that got smaller as they ascended to the top with waters flowing over the sides into the beautiful base. It was breathtaking. But paled in comparison to the school itself. The school was absolutely stunning in it's design, an array of greys that melded as they constructed the beautiful building that was constructed before her. It was an old place, probably had been around for a century at the least. It stones it was made of had the slightly worn look of something that had been through many years of rain and heat. The stones led up for many stories and continued farther out than Chloe could see. She had read that there was more than one building and just from looking at it, she didn't doubt that the school probably covered a couple of acres with it's facilities. Not to mention the renowned Silverleaf Academy field that her aunt had told her so much about.

But the thing that really caught Chloe's eye was the front doors. They were white and there was a symbol carved into the centre of the two doors. Though it was beautiful in not only design but in colour, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of foreboding wash over her at the symbol. She was sure that she had seen it somewhere before. Puling up the handle on her suitcase, Chloe rolled her bag up the steps and made her way towards the door. Hesitating for a moment with her hand on the nob, she swung the doors open and was confronted with blinding display of florescent lights. As Chloe's eyes adjusted to the new light, she was suddenly aware of a chunk of the student body moving around in front of her, their voices bouncing off walls and the silver lockers that lined them.

"Great," Chloe muttered. She stood out like a sore thumb in her attire of a tank top and skinny jeans. Most kids threw her questioning looks as they walked by but kept walking. "Good job keeping a low profile, Chloe."

Chloe made her way down the hallway, following the majority of students until she got to what she assumed was the principal's office. Just like outside, the office had white doors with a marking in between them. Absently fingering her necklace, she pushed through the double doors to come into a wide sitting room with a desk manned by a silver-haired secretary. She had a kind face, reminded Chloe more of someone's grandmother rather than a school administrator with her silver hair pulled back in a tidy bun as she typed away on her computer. Walking up to the desk, Chloe rested her hands on the counter and placed a practiced smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Chloe Saunders. I'm transferring in today," she said as she shifted her bag to rest on her other shoulder. "My aunt faxed over the records this morning."

The receptionist nodded, opening a folder and scanning the contents briefly before smiling at Chloe. "That's right, I remember reading this earlier. Ah, Chloe Saunders. I'm Mrs. Talbot. You're a legacy, aren't you?"

Chloe's smile faded slightly. "Yes, my parents used to go here."

A look of recognition flashed across her eyes and Mrs. Talbot clapped her hands together. "Oh! You're Jennifer's daughter, aren't you! I almost didn't recognize you, with how grown up you've gotten. But I could never forget a face and you look just like your mom!"

Chloe cringed slightly at the comparison as Mrs. Talbot spun in her chair and pulled open a drawer from a file cabinet next to her desk. She flicked through the folders quickly until she let out a soft tsking sound as she pulled out one blank file. In the background, Chloe heard the sound of a bell chime through the classes and the sounds in the hallway behind her slowly rapidly start to diminish. _It must be time for class_ , she thought absently as Mrs. Talbot rolled back to her, a bronze key in her hand.

"This is for you, dear," she said brightly, holding out the key. Chloe took it silently, turning it over in her hand as she examined it. "This is your room key. You'll be staying in the D-wing in a single. However, if you want a roommate, we can—"

"No!" Chloe yelped, shoving the key into her pocket. Flashing a smile at the old woman, Chloe hoped that she came off as nervous rather than crazy as she grabbed her suitcase handle. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But the room is fine. Thank you very much."

"The dormitories are farther back in the main building, this building, past the mess hall and the north gymnasium. So keep heading straight and don't make any turns until you reach the end of the hall. Then take a left, two rights, another left, the second right after that and up the stairs. From there, finding the D-wing is very easy." When Chloe only blinked at her, Mrs. Talbot smiled and rummaged through a pile of folders on her desk before pulling out a map. Handing it to Chloe, she smiled brightly. "This will help you out. Welcome to Silverleaf Academy, Chloe."

Chloe nodded before stepping back into a now deserted hallway. _They must all be in class_ , Chloe thought absently as she started in the opposite direction of the front doors. As she walked, she took in the actual size of the school. She was a short girl, having not grown since she started high school three years ago. She was probably five-foot two and that was being optimistic. The school made her feel even smaller than she already was. The ceiling looked to be at least ten feet over her head and the hallways were spacious enough that she really had to wonder how many students went to this school. The lockers were taller than she was, closer to six-feet tall rather than five. Each locker was a shiny gunmetal grey with matching white combination locks on each of them. The lockers split off to classrooms to see students in scribbling notes in their notebooks as teachers spoke. _Glad I'm not doing that_ , Chloe thought with a breath of relief as she continued down to the end of the hallway. Taking the left, she started down the next corridor, trying to remember Mrs. Talbot's directions.

"I take a left, a right, two lefts," she muttered to herself under her breath as she took a right down the next corridor and a left down the one afterwards. Taking the next left, she found herself at a dead end. Looking down at her map, Chloe tried to figure out where she was. She tried to trace the path that she had gone from the office to get to where she was, but she couldn't seem to find it on the maps either. "Was it left, two rights? Or was it right two lefts? Shit."

Turning, Chloe tried to retrace her steps back to the main office. _Maybe_ , she thought as she took a left, _if I can get back to where I started, I can figure out where I need to go_. Except this proved to be a much more difficult task then Chloe had first assumed. All the hallways in the school looked exactly the same and after ten minutes of trying to find her way back, she was almost certain that she was walking around in circles. She had passed the same water fountain three times since she had started this endless search to get back to the start. The school was just too perfect. Chloe was having a hard time not being discouraged when she rounding the corner and, once again, came back to the same water fountain. Sighing in frustration, she shrugged off her bag and leaned against the wall beside the water fountain. _Yeah, great start, Chloe,_ she thought as she smoothed out the map to look at again. Ten minutes in this school and you're lost. There wasn't anything on the map that symbolized water fountains, which she already knew, but she looked anyways, desperate for something that would make her feel a little bit less lost.

"You might want to turn it the other way."

Chloe jumped, dropping the map and smacking her hand against the water fountain. Letting out a string of curses, she looked over at the voice that had given her a near heart attack and saw a girl with dark hair leaning on the other side of the fountain. Chloe's cheeks flamed as she took a step back. The girl smiled reassuringly, flashing straight white teeth as she brushed strand of hair out of her eyes before holding out her hands palm up. The girl looked strangely familiar and Chloe's blue eyes moved up to meet the girl's brown ones to see the amusement dancing the depths of them as well as genuine surprise. But why would she be the surprised one in this situation?

"Hey, I didn't mean to startle you or anything. I just thought you might like to know. I mean, it'll help you since you don't seem to know where you're going," the girl explained as she slowly lowered her hands. "Unless you were purposefully trying to kill time by going around in circles. Because, if you are, you definitely doing a great job of it."

Chloe frowned, looking down at the map that was on the floor. Blowing out a sigh through her nose, she looked up at the girl again. "Do you know where the D-wing dorms are? Because I'm—"

"Lost and new?" she asked, her smile widening as Chloe nodded. "Yeah, the civilian clothes gave you away. I'll take you to the dorms, just follow me. I'm Mila, by the way."

"Chloe."

Mila turned around and walked down the hall, Chloe scurrying to keep up with her long strides as they went down the hall. As they went, Chloe took a good look at her savior. Like Chloe, she was in casual clothing instead of the school uniform, rocking a simple pair of jeans and a white shirt. This struck Chloe as odd, since it was the middle of a school day and classes were going on all around. Mila must have been skipping classes. Except that she didn't look like someone who would skip class. With her dark hair pulled back in a long Katniss style braid with a few wisps of hair framing her face, Mila looked like she was someone who would be in class early, not skip class and not wear her uniform. _Maybe she just needed a day off_ , Chloe thought as they turned another corner. But as they continued walking, something about the girl kept tugging at her mind until finally, it clicked into place.

"Andrews!" she exclaimed and Mila's head snapped around to look at her. "Sorry, I-I just… You looked familiar. Your last name wouldn't happen to be Andrews, would it?"

"Yes," Mila said slowly, looking at Chloe as if she were crazy. "Why?"

"I'm Chloe Saunders. You used to babysit me when I lived in town," Chloe explained.

Mila's eyes clouded over for a moment before clearing with recognition and an even brighter smile than before. "Oh, you were Mrs. Saunders kid. You played—oh, what was it—Princess, no, Pirate Jasmine, right?"

Chloe smiled at the thought, more from the nostalgia the memory brought on rather than the actually memory in general. She hadn't played with her Jasmine doll in… probably ten years, maybe a little bit longer. She hadn't even picked it up since the night of the accident. Actually, when she thought about it, she wasn't sure what had happened to the doll. One day it had been there and then it wasn't. But then again, at that time it felt like a lot of things were there one moment and disappeared the next.

"Yeah, I was in a rebellious phase back then," Chloe said wistfully. _Actually, I probably still am_ , Chloe thought dryly as she looked over at Mila again. "But back then, you were babysitting me so you must have been, what, twelve? Thirteen?"

"Is that your subtle way of asking why I'm still in this school even though I'm six years older than you are?" Again, Chloe felt her cheeks colour. She hadn't really meant it like that but she was curious as to why someone that was over twenty would best strolling around their old high school in the middle of the day instead of being at University or a job. Mila looked over at her with a rueful smile before leading Chloe around another corner. "It's okay to ask. It's just something about this place makes me want to stick around. A real home away from home feeling, if you catch my drift. D-wing was actually where I was housed too when I went here."

Chloe nodded, but she felt as though it was a lie. Just something in the way that Mila had said it didn't seem right. Maybe it was from the change of her posture or the slight tightening of her mouth, but Chloe was almost certain that Mila wasn't telling the entire truth. Not that she really was owed that. She hadn't even seen Chloe in ten years, and even then, she was only a snot-nosed brat that was attached to her income. Shaking off the feeling of wrong, she looked around to see that they were coming up to a set of stairs in a different part of the school. This part of the school, like the rest, was as immaculate as ever and had a few windows scattered along the walls in a seemingly random pattern.

"All right, so the D-wing dorm is right up there," Mila said pointing up the stairs with a relaxed smile. "I assume that the reason you were lost is because you haven't met your guide yet, right?"

Just like when Mrs. Talbot had given her the directions, Chloe blinked at Mila. "My what?"

"Did they not fill you in?" Mila scoffed, looking slightly exasperated. "Okay, all new kids get their very own guide. Usually, leaders are given a group of newbies and they show them the ropes of the school. The basics. But you've come in a month after school started so I'm guessing that you get a one-on-one guide. I hope for your sake that it's a smoking guy, cause these things can be long and tedious."

Chloe smiled wryly. She'd been through her fill of guides before and there wasn't anything they could show her that she hadn't seen before. From public school to high school, they were all the same. People who were too peppy trying to get you to join every club in the world and then never speaking to you again after it was done. _I think I would take my chances with the map_ , Chloe thought wryly. "Yeah… I think I'll skip the guide. I have my room key, though."

"Stellar, pass it here." Chloe handed her the key and she looked at it closely, flipping it over before her eyes lit up. "Yahtzee. You're in room D525. Jeez, that's a lot of stairs. You're almost at the top level."

Chloe shrugged, looking up the stairs. "I'm fine with that."

"Yeah, I figured you would be," she laughed as she handed Chloe her key back. "So straight up those stairs. Until you hit the fifth floor and from there, well, I think you'll be able to find the dorm relatively easily."

"Thanks for you help, really," Chloe said with a practiced smile as she got ready to go up the stairs. "And I guess I'll see you around, if you decide to visit often. Cause you know where I'll be."

"Right, I'll make sure to stop by some time for a chat about old times. And Chloe—" Mila cut off suddenly, looking behind her for a moment before staring back at Chloe with a different look. Actually, it felt more like she was staring around Chloe rather than actually at Chloe. Whatever Mila was looking at seemed to surprise her since she took in a sharp breath before shaking her head, as if to clear out something that was fogging up her mind. "It was nice to see you again, it really was. I liked talking to you, we should… do it again, sometime. Soon."

Chloe smiled warily, but nodded all the same. Mila seemed nice but she wasn't really looking to settle down here. Not in this town. But it wouldn't hurt to have someone to talk to every now and again. "Yeah, I'd like that too."

Chloe turned and started up the stairs to her dorm, but something urged her to turn back just once. Call it intuition, a spider sense, anything you want really, but something in her core was telling her to turn around and look. And even though following her instincts had been the reason she was here in the first place, she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right here. But when she turned around, there was nothing there. The hallway was empty and Mila was nowhere to be seen. But… that wasn't possible. Chloe had only made it up a few stairs and Mila had made it down the entire hallway? That wasn't possible. _There must have been a side hallway somewhere that I missed_ , she thought reasonably as she continued up the stairs, but she couldn't help the pit that was making itself known in her stomach. She hadn't even heard Mila leave, no squeak of shoes going down the hallway or anything. Actually, come to think of it, she hadn't heard them on the way here either. But that didn't really mean much because Chloe's shoes didn't make sounds like that either.

Chloe tried to force the thoughts out of her head, looking around at her surroundings instead. The staircase as a spiral, going straight up in essence but around in a few loops as it went. Every completed loop was another level up. The walls of the staircase were just like outside the rest of the building but as Chloe placed her hand on the wall, she realized that they were smooth. The people who designed it must have gone to great lengths to make sure that the stones were sanded to the perfect texture so that they weren't rough against the skin. The stairs had lights all over, but the windows were what shone in the light at the moment, the natural light making the stones glitter. There were also portraits on the walls of people with descriptions behind them. They seemed to vary form new to old in no particular pattern as the staircase continued. Just before Chloe reached the fifth floor, she came to a dead stop below a picture of a dark-haired girl with her hair pulled back into a braid with wisps of it framing her face as she gave the camera a soft smile. Though she was wearing her uniform in this picture, there was no mistaking the dark-haired girl in the picture. Tearing her eyes away, Chloe looked at the caption underneath the picture.

"In loving memory of Mila Andrews," she read in a whisper. "A loved and cherished member of Silverleaf. Gone but never forgotten."

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 **So here ends the first chapter :) How do you like it? Too wordy? Not wordy enough? Needs more connections? xD I don't know, I'm babbling here. But reviews are always welcome, whether they're just to say you're here or to give some constructive** **criticism. All is welcome.**

 **You'll be seeing the rest of the gang in the next chapter, so if you're worried about that, you don't need to be. Toodles**


	2. Old Friends

**A/N: Hey guys, so I just finished this so excuse the horrible spelling and other things. I try to have as little days between the first five chapters as I can, but I'm going away on _another_ family vacation so I won't have anytime to really write. Because, you know, vacations are supposed to be relaxing so I'm being forced to do every activity imagined by man against my will. But I digress. I will try to post before I leave and when I get back, but I also have school the day after I get back, so it's going to be hard. **

**Anyway, story time. It's a pretty long chapter, over 5000 words or whatever. I think that's about the range I'll be doing for every chapter. Somewhere between 4000-6000 words. I've never written more than that so I'm going to put that as my cut-out. I'm thinking this is going to be a longer one too, so it'll probably have a range of 25 chapters. So if you aren't looking for this kinda fic, here's the warning for you. Also, the rating might change from T to M, just because of the graphics. There might be some pretty intense scenes so be warned.**

 **Replies (I won't do this every chapter, but if there aren't too many, I will. But I'll always read them cause I love them all):**

 **JDrummond - Welcome to the new story, I'm glad that you like it :) I promise that I'll finish this one!**

 **Guest - I've added in a bit more talking in this one**

 **PurpleMoon12 - I'm so happy that you liked it. the backstory is still a work in progress, but you'll see a bit as the chapters go by. And I've always liked sassy Chloe. Shy is good sometimes, but if you saw ghosts all the time, I think she'd have a bit more of a 'tude than people give her credit for**

 **Zane S. White -I'm glad Mila's death was a surprise**

 **ChlerekAddiction - Well thank you, for the compliment about my writing**

 **Without further ado, the story**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers**

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 **Old Friends**

Chloe sat down heavily on her new bed, sighing so deeply that she actually felt it in her bones. She didn't know how long she had stood staring at that photo, but it was long enough that her legs had started aching. But that could also be because after she had found her room and gotten inside, she'd started pacing. She had actually been scared that she was going to wear a hole in the rug that was placed over her new wooden floor. That's why she sat down, actually. So that she didn't ruin her room before she even got the chance to appreciate. It was really a gorgeous room. The walls were covered with plain off white wallpaper that stretched around the room. She also had a mahogany coloured desk on one side of the room, a matching bed set on the other side that was already set with a set of soft red sheets. It really was a nice room, everything and more than she had expected when she noticed that there was a personal washroom connected to the room as well. But she couldn't even think about enjoying her new room until she had gotten her head around what she had just found out.

Mila Andrews was dead. No, it was worse than that. She was a ghost. Chloe had already gone over the possibility that Mila might have a sister that looks just like her, maybe even a twin. It would explain the resemblance. But why would a twin be going around the school masquerading as her dead sister to the new kid? What was the point in that? No, there was no avoiding the truth. Chloe could accept that but there was something that was still puzzling her. Mila had picked up the key. Chloe knew from experience that ghosts weren't able to touch anything solid. This wasn't Paranormal Activity. Ghost weren't able to grab your leg and drag your ass down the stairs. It was all myth. So how did Mila hold that key?

"Freaking ghosts," Chloe said to herself in disbelief again, chuckling miserably as she placed her face in her hands. "Just when I thought I couldn't be surprised."

Sighing again, Chloe pulled her bag from where it had been lying on the ground and placed it carefully on her bed. Opening it, she pulled out her laptop and a big, old book she had found last year labelled _Necromancia_. She had found it with her mother's things after she had passed away. The book and the ruby necklace that she wore around her neck were the only things that she had that belonged to her mother, as well as a picture of them at Chloe's fourth birthday party. Running her fingers against the spine of the book, she opened the covered and traced the name on the top of the book. It read, "To Benji, with all my love, Jen." Flipping through the well worn pages of the book, Chloe scanned for what she was looking for. Something that explained how a ghost could touch anything. Even though she had had the book for months now, she hadn't actually finished reading it. There were some parts of it that were just too thick for her to read through in one sitting and she had found herself, more than once, waking up with pages stuck to her face. As she proceeded to flip through the pages, something caught her eye and she stopped. Tracing down the page, she mouthed words to herself until she got to the final paragraph on the page.

"Ghost are unable to touch any object on this corporeal plane because of their state of being," Chloe read slowly, making sure that she understood every word as she continued. "But there are always exceptions to this rule. Telekinetic demons and demi-demons such as Migro, Agito, and Volo are able to control their surrounding with enough skill and concentration. They control items without touching them while also possessing the ability to touch items, an ability not common in the afterlife. See more in _Demônio_."

Chloe blinked at the page. Demons? She couldn't have actually read that right. But it didn't matter how many times she re-read the section. It didn't change what she had read. Demons were real. Demon ghosts existed. What the hell had she stumbled upon in this school? Opening her laptop, she typed in a password and waited. The screen turned black and the sound of pages turning suddenly filled the room as the screen popped to life, window after window popping up onto the screen. After Buffalo, Chloe had started researching as much as possible about ghosts and this was where she kept all the information that she had gotten. She preferred to write things out, but she had figured that it would be safer keeping it under something password protected so that her aunt didn't accidentally tumble across it. Chloe had even gone to the lengths of paying someone to making her two different systems, one for her information and one for everything else. When she typed in her normal password, her normal desktop would pop up with all of her movie making software as well as her homework. But when she typed in a different password, it would take her to all the information she had gathered over the last few months on ghosts and everything she had learned through her interactions.

A sudden knock on the door had Chloe so startled that she nearly dropped her laptop. She did, however, drop the book and it fell to the floor with a thud. Clutching at her heart, she turned to glare at the door as if to will the person away. But when the rapping on the door continued, Chloe sighed resignedly before yelling, "One second!"

Closing her laptop, she placed the big book of death back into her backpack. She doubted that whoever was at the door would be coming in, but she really didn't want to take the chance. She didn't need to have rumors flying around that she was some sort of death obsessed weirdo. Sliding her bag under her bed, Chloe trudge to the door and swung it open. The greeting she had been planning to give got caught in her throat, however, as she had the breath nearly knocked out of her by a flash of golden hair with a surprisingly strong grip. Blinking in surprise, she realized that she was being hugged and tensed slightly. Who in the hell?

"Oh, it's so good to see you again!" the girl squealed as she continued to hug Chloe. "It's been so long."

Chloe was at a lost for words. Well, no, that was a lie. There was a lot of words she wanted to say, none of them very nice. But the shock had her blurting out, "Please stop touching me."

The girl finally let go of Chloe and practically bouncing back so Chloe could get the first good look at her. She had long flowing blonde hair that started in waved and got curly the farther down they went with big blue eyes that were practically sparkling with electricity. She tilted her head, flashing bright white teeth at Chloe as she smiled wildly. She was wearing a school uniform and had to be at least half a head taller than Chloe was. She looked like the damsel in distress of every stupid love movie Chloe had ever been forced to watch. The smile she was giving Chloe brought back memories of something warm. For some reason, the colour yellow kept swirling through her head as she peered at the girl in front of her. For a moment, she wondered if the blonde haired girl was a ghost as she continued smiling at her silently and Chloe stared at her hard, trying to figure it out until voice piped up.

"I told you she wouldn't remember us." Chloe jumped again, eyes snapping to a dark haired girl leaning against the wall beside her door. Her hair was short, pixie style hair that was spiked at the end with some kind of unknown product. Just like the blonde girl, she was decked out in the school uniform but hers somehow looked darker on her. The contrast between the two girls was shocking, whereas the blonde was cheerful with bright eye and a bright smile, the dark haired girl screamed doom and gloom. Her almond shaped eyes were outlined with severe yet classy black liner and her mouth was set in what looked to be like a permanent scowl. However, Chloe was proven wrong when the corner of the dark-haired girl's mouth lifted and she smirked at Chloe. "Come on, Liz, you know Chlo here always had a horrible memory."

Liz? As in Liz Delaney? Chloe's head snapped back around to look at the blonde again, the sudden image of a much smaller but still very beautiful little girl running around a classroom with her long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She also remembered a dark-haired child with a very cold shoulder but a beautiful smile, if you ever got to see. Chloe's eyes looked from one from one girl to the other, eyes locking with the almond-eyed girl as she tried to keep a straight face. "Just like you always had a horrible attitude, Tori?"

Tori broke into a smile. "Long time no see, Chloe."

Chloe grinned as she pulled Tori in for a hug before giving Liz another one, properly this time. Victoria Enright and Elizabeth Delaney had been her two best friends before she had moved away ten years ago. Liz and Chloe had become instant friends back when they were in kindergarten. Tori, who had been Liz's best friend before her, had eventually warmed up to her after a little bit. They didn't really become friends though until one of the boys in their class had decided to make fun of Chloe's stutter. when Tori. Tori stood up for her and they had been friends until the day that she had moved away for the first time. After that, they had lost touch. But here they were, standing in front of her and making her feel like she had never left. Oh, how things would have been so much simpler if she had never left.

"Jeez, you're still short!" Tori teased and Chloe threw her a dry look. "What? You are!"

"What Tori means to say is that we're happy you're back," Liz said with a chastising look at her friend. "When I saw your name on the roster today, I nearly had a fit. I didn't believe my eyes. I had to practically beg to be your guide. But I thought a friendly face would, you know, do you good. Plus, now we get to catch up! But first I have to show you around school."

"Liz, you aren't actually going to do the guide thing, are you?" Tori asked in exasperation. "We did this so that we could get to see Chloe, not to actually do work. I only came because I thought we were going to sit her down and dish."

"And we will," Liz confirmed as she looped one arm through Chloe's and her other through Tori's. "As soon as we're done the tour."

Liz started dragging me away and Chloe laughed, gently pulling my arm free. "Hold on, let me just grab my key."

Chloe stepped back into her room and grabbed the key off of where she had laced it on the desk. Looking at the laptop that was still on her bed, she paused for a moment before shaking her head. _The Mila situation can wait_ , Chloe thought as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. But even as she walked away, she felt a stab of unease in her stomach. Pushing it back, she looped her arm through Liz's and let her drag her away from her rooms and her problems.

Liz took them everywhere. They covered all the departments and buildings in the entire school, which sounds less exhausting than it actually is. By the time they had made it to the football field, Chloe was out of breath and her feet were starting to hurt. They had already covered the Music department, the Tech department, the Business department and they were now on the Sports department. Silverleaf Academy was proving to be an even bigger school than she had originally imagined. It was a freaking maze of classrooms and corridors that lead to places unknown. Chloe felt almost overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place because, yes, she had been to big schools before but this was seriously big. This was like a mall with a different store every few meters, it was full of surprises that she wasn't sure that she really wanted but she was going to get to see them no matter what.

"So, how's life been?" Chloe asked as they walked across the empty football field. Up until now, she had most stayed quiet and listened to the playful conversation Liz and Tori were having as Liz occasionally pointed out where they were and what department it belonged to, as well as how to get back to her room from here. "It's been… what, ten years?"

"Around that much," Tori replied as she examined her nails. "A lot has changed."

"Yeah, you have red in your hair," Liz said as she lifted up a strand of Chloe's hair. "When did this happen?"

Chloe pursed her lips as she though about it. "I'd say about a week ago. I needed a change. But I'm not the only one who changed their hair. Tori looks like a fairy."

Tori swatted Chloe's hand as she teasingly flicked at her spikes. "Like you said, I needed a change. Plus, my mum hates it so it's a win on my part."

Chloe said nothing, looking at Liz with concern. Tori's mother had always been sort of a handful. Even as they were kids, Chloe could remember how much Tori wanted her mother's attention and never got it. Even with her attitude, Tori had always been a sweet girl, but Mrs. Enright was definitely not. Chloe could remember more than once going over to her house when they were ids and Tori crying her eye out in her room. Or days when she had to sleepover at Liz's because her mother didn't want her in the house. It was a touchy subject at best, but from the way that Tori had said it. Chloe was sure that her relationship with her mom wasn't any better than it was before. Actually, just before Chloe had left, Tori had moved in with her father and Chloe remembered how much it had upset Tori. Chloe wasn't sure how that situation had gone, but she was curious if it had anything to do with her new attitude towards her mother.

"Well, I like it," Chloe said definitively as they kept walking. Tori flashed her a smile and Liz nodded in agreement. "It shows that beneath all the makeup, you're a sweet, innocent, loveable—Ow! Jesus, Tori, I was kidding!"

Chloe rubbed her arm where Tori had punched as Tori smiled sweetly back at her. "If you ever call me innocent again…"

"Yeah, don't worry, I won't. You're evil. A demon. A grade A witch," Chloe replied grumpily as she continued to rub her arm. If she hadn't been so busy rubbing her arm, Chloe might have caught the look that passed between Tori and Liz. But she continued to rub her arm, oblivious to the silent conversation going on beside her. "Maybe change the W with a B."

"Somebody got some attitude while she was away," Tori said after a moment with a smirk. "Where did that come from?"

Chloe's smirk faltered for half a second. "Hey, I lived in New York. You weren't around to protect me from the mean kids, so I had to figure out how to do it myself. Thick skin and all that."

Wiping away a fake tear, Tori patted Chloe on the back. "Aw, my little Chloe is all grown up."

Chloe rolled her eyes and Liz laughed. "All right, you two. Let's go get some food. I'm sure Chloe is starving. I can show her the rest of the departments later."

Chloe groaned at the mention of food. The thought of food made her stomach grumble so hard that she was scared that the ground would shake with it. She hadn't eaten since early this morning while she was finishing her packing and that had been at least twelve hours ago. Following Liz and Tori, they made their way back to the cafeteria. As they re-entered the building, they found themselves in a hallway crowded with people, some in uniform and some in normal clothing scurrying through the halls.

Suddenly, Chloe felt a stinging sensation run up her arm. "Ow!"

"You good?" Tori asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched Chloe start shaking her arm aggressively. "I didn't hit you that hard."

"No, no. Wait, yes." Tori and Liz both frowned at Chloe and Chloe stopped shaking her arm long enough to get a full thought across. "I meant, yes, I'm good. No, it wasn't from you hitting me. I think I just got shocked."

"Shocked?" Liz asked. When Chloe nodded, she frowned looking at the door they entered. "I don't see anything that could shock you though."

"She probably just got too clos to the metal and was a it charged after being outside," Tori reasoned but she looked worriedly around. "But that look like it hurt."

Chloe shook her head, massaging her arm lightly. "It didn't hurt. It was more the surprise of it than anything else. More of a tickle, really. Come on let's go get food."

But as they walked, Chloe couldn't shake the feeling that it had been something else. It hadn't actually hurt. It was shocking, to say the least, but it was more like she had electricity running through her blood. Almost as if something had kick started something in her and it had started in her arm, where she felt the spark. But just as fast as the feeling had come, it was gone again. Almost like it wasn't actually there to begin with. But Chloe knew better than to think that just because something disappeared, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Actually, speaking of… Chloe cleared her throat as they turned a corner. "So, uh, did you guys know Mila?"

"Andrews?" Liz asked in surprise and Chloe nodded. "Uh, yeah. She used to babysit me and my little brother when we were younger. She was really nice."

When nothing else was said, Chloe awkwardly cleared her throat and tried again. "So, you knew her when she passed away? Do you… know what happened?"

This time, Chloe saw the silent conversation that went on between the two girls as they continued walking. There was a look that was exchanged and Liz didn't seem happy. Tori was the one that answered the question. "Yeah, we did. It was horrible. She got caught in an ally way. Some asshat raped, mugged and stabbed her. It was terrible. It happened about four years ago."

Chloe was silent in horror and none of them said anything after that as they continued to make their way to the cafeteria. But that meant that she at least knew why Mila was a ghost and not resting somewhere else. She had unfinished business. But there was the question of why she wasn't in town and instead was wondering around the school. _There's something not right here_ , Chloe thought absently as they turned a corner and she stopped in her tracks. The cafeteria was _huge_. It was at least a few stories high and it was wide. There were tables scattered all around in a random order with students seated in random numbers all around. What Chloe couldn't get over were the chandeliers on the ceiling. They looked to be real life crystal chandelier made with actual gold from the way that they sparkled. They had to cost a pretty penny to make. The rest of the cafeteria was more like the ones that she was accustomed to over the years of high school, however this one was in much better shape than the others. The floor was shining tiles and the tables were all sparkling as if they had just been cleaned.

"You'll get used to it," Liz said as Chloe looked around. "It's pretty big, but it's home."

"This place must cost a fortune and a half," Chloe gasped. "How do they afford this?"

"They have a bunch of donors. Super rich people who have literally nothing else to do than give away their money," Tori explained as they walked to the food line. "But it's really just so that we're a higher end group of teenage dirt bags. As you can see, we still have our own set of jocks, cheerleaders, goths and nerds like everywhere else."

Chloe looked to the tables that she pointed and found that she was right. Just like she had pointed out, there were cliques everywhere. Though they were a little more diversified than the ones she was more accustomed to, she could clearly see one; the popular kids. Though there were many cliques in a school, the one that never changed. The table that held the popular people was right in the centre of the cafeteria and had the prettiest people, of course. The group consisted mostly of cheerleaders and jocks, most of the cheerleaders wearing the red and black outfits that she assumed were the squad uniforms. In the centre of all of them sat a girl with long red hair that hung straight down her back. When she opened her mouth to speak, it looked as if the entire table shut up so that they could listen to here. It was clear that she was in control.

"Who's that?"

Tori followed Chloe's eyes and snorted. "That? That's Amber Long, the lovely self-proclaimed Queen Bee of Silverleaf. She's a senior and as bitchy as they come. She thinks because her daddy has money that she can get whatever she likes. She thinks with a snap of her fingers, everything will turn out her way. Assumes every boy wants to date her and every girl wants to be her. She got a rude wakeup call last year when my brother dumped her."

Chloe's eyebrows rose and she looked at Tori in surprise. "Your brother?"

"Simon. He's a senior too and apparently got dropped on his head for a few months because he thought it would be a good idea to date the wicked witch of Silverleaf," Tori said as she put a salad on her tray. "Finally knocked some sense into him at the end of the year."

"I didn't know your brothers went here too." Chloe had never met Tori's brothers. She didn't even know them by name, they were just two guys that she had heard vaguely about when they were little. From what Chloe could remember, Tori had two half brothers and she had more or less hated both of them. And when Tori hated someone, it was best to stay out her way. "Do I get to meet them?"

Liz instantly brightened at the thought, looking around the cafeteria. "Of course. Don't believe anything Tori says, they're both amazing people. They're both seniors like me and they're great athletes who have really helped the school. Simon's the head of the basketball team and Derek's the star player on the football team. You'll love them."

Chloe smiled at Liz's enthusiasm, grabbing herself a bowl of pasta as they went through the line. They continued to chat as they made their way through the line, Liz always on the look out for the boys. Suddenly, once again the stinging sensation happened in Chloe's arm. She flinched slightly, looking down at her arm in confusion. There wasn't anything that she was touching that could have caused a shock so what was going on. It felt like her blood was buzzing with electricity, not in a bad way but just something that wasn't familiar to Chloe. And unlike how it had disappeared earlier, it was lingering under her skin as a persistent hum. Trying to ignore it, Chloe rolled her shoulders and tuned back into her friends' conversation.

"—right over here," Liz was telling her as she led Chloe to a table away from the centre. "You'll see Simon and Derek over here."

Chloe looked at the table Liz pointed at in confusion. The boys sitting at the table looked nothing like what she expected. On one side of the table was an boy with blond hair that was up in messy spikes that looked like perfectly un-perfect bed head. He was talking across to a guy at the table beside theirs with a big smile on his face and even from where she was standing, Chloe could see the gleam of mischief in his almond eyes. Looking closely between the two, Chloe could see the resemblance between Tori and the blond boy. They had the same mouth shape and the same almond coloured eyes, though Simon's was more upturned than Tori's were. Even their smiles held a resemblance. But it was the other boy at the table that Chloe was confused with. He had dark hair that hung low over his eyes and an olive complexion with a mouth that was set in a deep scowl as he watched the other boy. The dark haired boy was also much bigger than the blond and Tori for that matter. Even sitting down, he was probably the same size as Chloe standing up right now. She couldn't see the resemblance at all and she got a feeling that the dark-haired boy wasn't very friendly. When they got to the table, the girls sat down and the blond boy turned around with a blazing smile.

"Oh, hi there," he said with a smile as he leaned forward. "We haven't met before. Are you new?"

Chloe smiled, suddenly shy with all the eyes on her. "Yeah, I transferred in this morning. I'm Chloe."

"Well, I'm Simon and this is my brother, Derek," he said with a relaxed smile. "Now tell me, how did you end up with over witch of a sister here?"

"Bite me," Tori supplied around a mouthful of salad and Simon wrinkled his nose.

"No thanks, I'm not into raging bitch, I don't want to get rabies."

Tori glared but didn't supply an answer and Liz just shook her head. "Can you guys go five minutes without bickering?"

"That's like telling them to stop breathing for five minutes, Liz," the dark-haired boy, Derek, rumbled.

Liz nodded, but seemed troubled still so Chloe cleared my throat and tried to get the conversation going. "So you guys are brothers?"

"Identical twins," Derek supplied dryly as he started eating again. Chloe gave him a look, not that he saw it because he was too busy with his food.

"Don't mind Derek, he's a shit when… well, actually always," Tori supplied as he continued eating, uncaring. "He's adopted."

"Oh."

"So, Chloe, how are you liking Sivlerleaf?" Simon asked brightly, a lazy smile on his lips. "People treating you all right?"

"Yeah, it's actually a lot better than I thought it would be. I kind of assumed that you would all be stuck up rich kids."

Simon laughed, shaking his head. "We do have our fair share of those, don't get me wrong. But we're not all like that."

"Oh really? I guess I'll just have to see for myself."

"I look forward to showing you," Simon said with a playful smile and Chloe felt her cheeks start to colour slightly. Looking away, she took a bite of her pasta. _Wow_ , she thought as the flavours exploded in her mouth, _rich people food is awesome_. "So, what dorm are you staying in."

"Uhm, D-Wing. 525," Chloe said after a moment of enjoying her pasta.

"Hey, that's D and I's floor. You're in the single at the end of the hall, right?" When Chloe nodded, he grinned. "That room is sweet. We're in 518 Everyone here is part of the D-Wing squad. Liz and Tori are two floors down in 313. So if you ever need anything, give us a call."

"Simon, can you not go five minutes without hitting on someone?" Tori asked in exasperation. "She's my friend. I didn't bring her here for you."

"Hey, I'm just making friends, Tori. Something I didn't know you were capable of." Simon paused, looking at Chloe again. "How did you meet this one anyway? She never plays well with people."

"Oh, you know, we all go way back to the baby days," Chloe said with a smirk, nudging her friends. "I mean, we're as close as close can be. Liz stole for me and Tori helped cover it up. It's something only true friends can do. I mean, stealing a yellow crayon? It's a crime punishable by the time out corner and that place changes you."

Simon chuckled and Tori rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. Liz took it as a cue to start a conversation about how cruel time outs actually were and Chloe took the chance to just observe the group. From what she could tell, they all got along pretty well, bickering notwithstanding. They seemed like a family of sorts and, even though she had only just met Simon, she really liked him. He was cute, charming, and everything needed to be a heart breaker. She had no problem imaging girl falling over themselves to get his attention and even though he seemed like a flirt, he did seem like a good guy. If Liz liked him, Chloe liked him. The one person she couldn't get a read on was Derek. He was quiet and the two sentence he had said had only told her that he was a very sarcastic guy. While she was peering at him, he looked up and met her eyes for a moment. Chloe was stunned by the sight of the pure green eyes that were staring back at her in that moment instead of being a bull brown like she had expected. They left her speechless and the electricity that had been buzzing under her skin since she had entered the cafeteria was now buzzing in her ears. Derek's eyebrows furrowed together and then she was no longer looking into his green eyes. Blinking, the buzzing in her ears subsided and she tuned back into the conversation. But in the back of her mind, she knew that there was something off about this school. And Chloe was going to figure out what it was.

* * *

 **And here it ends. I know, it's kind of an awkward ending, but I didn't really have a sure fire way of ending it nicely, so there it is xD I'm still learning how to do closing, so be gentle with me please**

 **Anyway, Chloe has met the main group and she seems to have hit it off with Simon. Oo la la, I'm excited for the next chapter. R and R if you please, let me know what you think ;) Ttfn**


	3. Good Morning Silverleaf

**A/N: Yea, so I've been a bit inactive for the past two weeks, so apologies to everyone who has been waiting for this since the day that I posted Chapter 2. I could go into detail about how busy I was, but I'll just say I started Uni so I'm just trying to figure out how to balance all my stuff right now. I'm working on it, super hard. Forgive the mistakes as well, this is hot off the presses and I'm editing as I go in efforts of giving you this faster. So refresh often, I'll try my hardest to get rid of most of them before you read, but if I don't, Sorry.**

 **Reviews** **:**

 **JDrummond - I'm glad you love the descriptions! And I like the way your mind works ;)**

 **PurpleMoon12 - The torture is going to have to extend for a little longer, I'm sorry dear**

 **Zane S. White - I updated a bit late, but here is the update. And I'm glad you don't think it's awkward**

 **Guest - Drama will come soon, and I don't just mean the class**

 **Hunstman-in-the-snow - I needed to have some kind of surprise up my sleeve, I thought a supernatural twist was just what the doctor ordered**

 **A Poet Soldier - Aww thank you, I aim to please**

 **SME13 - Here's chapter 3 for you**

 **Without further ado, here is the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Good Morning Silverleaf!**

Chloe woke up with a start, her eyes wide as she stared at the door in confusion. Someone was knocking on her door. Rubbing her eyes, she shoved the laptop onto the other side of her bed and stretched. The knocking came again, louder and more impatient than before. She sighed, willing the person away. But when the knocking happened again, she dragged herself out of the bed with a groan and padded barefoot to the door, swinging it open to reveal a very annoyed looking Tori.

"I've been knocking forever Chloe, why—" Tori cut off suddenly and her eyes widened. "What the hell are you wearing?"

Chloe looked down at herself, yawning into her fist. She saw nothing wrong in what she was wearing. She had tossed on a pair of baggy flannel pajama pants with a tank top last night. "Uh, PJs?"

"Yes, I can see that," Tori smirked, shaking her head. "I'm just wondering if you planned on wearing that to class on your first day."

It took a moment for her words to click in and then Chloe gasped. First day. School. She must have slept in. "Oh god, how much time do I have?"

"Half an hour," Tori replied holding out a folded piece of paper. "It's your schedule. Liz had one of her club meetings this morning, so she sent me to drop it off. I didn't see you in the dining hall so I figured that you were still up here. But I thought that you'd have woken up by now."

Chloe took the piece of paper from Tori. "I slept in."

"I can see that. Get cleaned up and meet me downstairs in the dining hall. And be quick about it, I'm not being late because of the new girl." Tori sauntered off and left Chloe standing at the door. Without turning around, she called back, "And you might want to fix your bedhead."

Chloe's hands flew up to her hair and groaned. She hadn't even thought about her bedhead when she had woken up. She probably had a bird's nest on her head and she hadn't even realized it. Letting out another groan, she turned and kicked the door in behind her. Rushing to the washroom, she looked in the mirror at the disaster that she called her hair. She looked like someone out of a horror movie. Her eyes were still full of sleep and her hair was sticking up in every which direction. If she wasn't in such a rush, Chloe might've laughed at herself. She really did look crazy. Stripping down, she jumped into the shower. As she showered, her mind wondered back to last night and everything that happened.

Dinner had been fun. Chloe had found that she could actually relax around the group in a way that she hadn't around other people. It was a weird feeling, but it wasn't unpleasant. Simon and the girls had really made her feel like she was part of the group rather than an outsider. They had included her in all conversations and made her feel like it was something that they always did. Even watching Simon and Tori argue made her feel relaxed. But then there was Derek. After his initial comments, he didn't say anything for the rest of the night. Not that he didn't communicate. When he was asked a direct question, he would grunt. It must have been part of the usual though, because they would take it as an answer and keep going on with the conversation. After dinner was over and Chloe was back in her room, she had started the research. Between Mila and the shocks that made her feel like she had electricity just under the surface of her skin, Chloe knew that there had to be something supernatural going on here. But she hadn't come up with anything last night when she had looked through the school history. The only thing she had found that might stick out were the anonymous donors who funded for most of Silverleaf to begin with. Something called St. Cloud Association. There was something familiar about that name, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Turning off the water, Chloe stepped out of the shower and hurried back into the room, picking up her uniform from where it hung on the back of the door. She thanked whatever higher power that had told her to take it out when she had gotten in after dinner because it was a life saver. Brushing her teeth in record time, she pulled on the uniform and looked at herself in the mirror for a moment. Silverleaf's school colours were black and red, so their uniforms reflected that. Chloe wore a plain white blouse with a black blazer that hung tastefully over top. She was also wearing a red and black plaid skirt that hung just below mid thigh with a matching coloured tie hanging around her neck. On the blazer held the school crest, two small leaves with intertwined stems on either side of one large leaf in the middle. Patting down her skirt, Chloe looked at herself. She had put on a pair of black low tops to finish the outfit, opting out of ballet flats for the time being. From how big the school was, she figured that she would need more durable footwear. Her hair though, she had no idea what to do about it. It was just a little longer than shoulder length, but it was still thin. There was no point trying to do anything with it now, she didn't have the time to waste. Giving herself one more once over, she grabbed her bag and hurried out the door.

Chloe found herself in the middle of a frantic group of people pushing and pulling her this way and that to get to where they needed to be. Jostling her way through the crowd, she made it to the stairs and followed them down to the main floor of the school. Glancing at her schedule she saw that she had first period Media Studies, an elective that she had hoped with all her might that she would get. It was in room BA5178. The room number alone had her stopped in her tracks, which resulted in her nearly getting knocked clean off the stairs with the amount of people pushing her down the stairs. Stumbling down the rest of the stairs, Chloe steadied herself at the bottom and made her way through the crowd to the dining hall.

"Chloe!"

Chloe jumped, whipping around to see Liz and Tori coming up from the other direction than the dining hall. Chloe smiled in relief as she walked over to her friends with a smile. "I thought you told me to meet you in the dining hall."

"You were taking far too long," Tori said dismissively as she flashed her a grin. "Besides, I had to find your actual tour guide."

Chloe rolled her eyes and handed Liz her schedule. "Any idea where BA5178 is?"

"Oh, you have Media Studies, don't you?" Liz breathed as she looked over the schedule. "With Ms. Basher too! You're going to love her! Oh, and we have Drama together! And you have Geography with Tori!"

Tori grimaced. "Yes, because it's so exciting being in mandatory hell. Gotta share it with your friends, right?"

"Oh, Tori, stop scaring Chloe," Liz chastised with a frown. Turning to smile at Chloe, she continued. "Honestly, Geo isn't that bad. I took it last year. It's just kind of chalked full of terms and stuff. Boring at times, but nothing horrible. Now let's get you there before we're all late."

Chloe nodded and followed them away from the dining hall. Liz went right back into tour guide mode and started showing Chloe everything in the school again, explaining how different it looks when the sun is up and shining. Chloe found herself smiling without realizing it, Liz's positivity rubbing off onto her. Chloe followed the girls for what seemed like forever, down series after series of hallways until they stopped in front of a classroom door labelled _BA5178_. _Why is everything so confusing in this school?_ Chloe thought grumpily.

"All right, so here is your class," Liz said as she handed Chloe back her schedule. "Have a good first day!"

"Yes, ma'am," Chloe said with a slight smile and Liz grinned. "See you soon."

Tori nodded absently, but her eyes were focused at the end of the hallway on something, or someone that Chloe couldn't see. With a wave, Tori and Liz both skipped off to their classes, leaving Chloe at the door to hers with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She hated the first day at a new school. It was always awkward and weird and everyone always stared at her. And though Chloe had gotten over her fear of being the center of attention, she really wasn't one to hog the spotlight. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the doorknob to open the door only to have it swing out and smack her in the face.

"Holy fuck! Ow!"

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Clutching her nose, Chloe peaked through her hands at the person in front of her. Her vision was immediately obstructed by a girl with copper skin and wide brown eyes staring back at her in horror. It didn't take a genius to realize that she must have been the one who hit Chloe in the face. The girl was still apologizing even as Chloe watched people file in behind her into the classroom. "Jesus, are you okay?"

"I'm good," she murmured, her voice muffled from her hands. Chloe quickly pulled her hands down to make sure that she wasn't bleeding and gave the girl a small fake smile, more to stop her from making an even bigger deal of this than she already had. Out of the corner of her eye, she had seen a few people had stopped to see what all the yelling was about and Chloe could feel the stares drilling holes into her back. "Seriously, I'm good."

Edging around the copper skinned girl, Chloe stepped into the classroom and looked around. The room was decently sized but looked like every other school she had ever attended. She walked up to the big desk with a woman typing furiously. Chloe could only assume that she was the teacher seeing as it was the only large desk in the entire room. The woman had curly orange hair that hung in spirals at her shoulders, the top kept down by a black headband. She had full moon spectacles and when she looked up at Chloe, her eyes looked like they belonged more on a toy than the woman in front of her. The woman smiled wide, showing off very straight white teeth and removed her glasses, producing average sized light green eyes. _Not as pretty as Derek's_ , Chloe thought and then shook her head. It was a weird thought to have.

"So you must be Chloe Saunders," she said as she laced her fingers together. Behind Chloe, the door opened and more students filed into the previously empty room. "I'm Ms. Basher."

Chloe painted on her best fake smile and looked her in the eyes. "It's nice to meet you. I just thought it would be best to come and introduce myself and get any homework that I've missed so far."

Ms. Basher looked blankly at Chloe and then suddenly, started laughing. The noise made Chloe jump and she shifted uncomfortably as Ms. Basher's laughter continued. While she laughed, Chloe heard the bell signalling the beginning of class ring and immediately tensed. She had hoped that the meet and greet with the teacher would only take a minute and she would be able to sit down before she drew unwanted attention. She didn't seem to have an option in that so far. Looking back at her still laughing teacher, she decided that she wasn't the only crazy one in this school.

"Oh, I needed that," Ms. Basher said as she wiped away a tear. Looking at Chloe with a smile, she shook her head. "It's sweet that you think we've done work, dear, but this is what kids like to call the easy course. You sit around and watch movies and do work sheets. Throw in a few essays and that's the course plan for this year. You've missed two movies and two worksheets that, in the end, don't even count towards five percent of your overall mark."

Chloe nodded slowly. "Okay."

Ms. Basher smiled sympathetically and then looked around her to the class. "Well, class has begun, so you should grab a seat. I promise that in a day or two, you'll be all caught up. There's an empty seat in the back beside Rachelle."

Glancing back in the direction Ms. Basher was pointing, Chloe caught a blue eyed gaze. The boy had shoulder length hair and looked much more like a man than a boy. On his shoulders was a letterman jacket that no doubt had the rest of the girls wooing over him. From the smirk he was giving her, she knew that was what he expected. Putting on her most bored face, she blinked at him before breaking eye contact and walking to the back of the room to sit in her seat. As she sat down, she noticed the girl next to her was the same one who had smacked the door in her face. Chloe noticed that she had her dark curly hair pulled back in a ponytail away from her face and that the girl kept looking at her from the corner of her eye and that her face was pinched with worry.

"I'm Chloe," she said as she extended a hand over to the girl. The girl started slightly, turning to look at her hand. "And I promise that I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt anymore."

The girl smiled gratefully, extending her own hand to clasp Chloe's. "I'm Rachelle, but I prefer Rae."

Before Chloe could respond, the blond guy turned in his seat with a big smile. "Well, howdy cutie."

There was a southern drawl in his voice, obviously something that he was proud of, and his smile looked more predatory than anything else. Chloe looked hard at the boy before tilting her head to the side. "No."

"No?" he asked, confused. It seemed as if the concept of someone turning him down wasn't something he was used to.

"Not interested."

Beside her, Rae snickered behind her hand and the boy turned to glare at her before his eyes shifted back to Chloe. His smile returned, but it was a little colder than before and something about it made Chloe want to shrink in her seat. "Playing hard to get. I like the challenge."

The boy turned back around and Chloe gaped at him. He couldn't be serious. Ms. Basher called the class to attention after that and called for the attention of the class as she discussed the next movie that they were going to be watching. Because it was October, she thought that she would kick off the month with a bang and watch old movies such as Frankenstein and Dracula. She went on to explain how we would then be watching the remakes for these movies and have to write a comparison essay on all the elements in the movies at the end of the month. As she talked, Chloe found Ms. Basher to be a very distracted teacher. She didn't finish sentences, she would stop suddenly and look into the distance. She even changed subject in the middle of the sentence and then suddenly go back to the first sentence. _Maybe I wasn't so off with the crazy thing after all_.

The rest of the day went by smoothly, or smoother than the first class that is. She didn't get hit in the face again and never got lost. At the end of each class, Tori or Liz would be waiting by the door when she got out and would help lead her to her next class. Through the day, she found that she had classes not only with the girls but the guys as well. She had Biology with Simon, which he had explained was due to the fact that he failed Chemistry in his sophomore year causing him to fall back one year with his classes, and English with Derek due to her taking junior English last year and opting for Senior English this year. She had ended up in the seat beside him, not that he had noticed since he hadn't even reacted when she had sat down. He spent the entire class staring out the window, ignoring the teacher and everyone else in the class, including her. However, she also shared the class with the blond boy from her Media Studies class. He had spent a good portion of the class just leering at her from his seat that was, thankfully, much closer to the front. When Chloe brought him up later that night to the girls, they both frowned at her.

"That sounds like Malloy," Tori said with a look of disgust and Liz nodded in agreement over her pasta. "Did you say he had a southern accent?"

"Yeah, he sounded like he had grown up in Texas."

"Yeah, that's Liam all right," Liz said gravely, putting down her fork. "You should stay away from him, Chloe. He's bad news. He's on the football team too, just like Derek, but that's about where the similarities end. Liam isn't a good guy, Chloe. He's done some bad things and if you're on his radar, you should really be careful."

Chloe nodded, her stomach twisting uneasily at Liz's words. She had expected the guy—Liam—to be bad news, but she didn't expect that news to come from Liz. Tori, sure. Tori never had a problem seeing the bad in people, but Liz… If Liz thought that Liam was a bad guy, she didn't want anything to do with him. Two classes a day were two too much for Chloe. She made a mental note to stay away from him at all costs in her head as she ate the last of her own pasta in silence.

Days passed and not much happened. Chloe went to her classes and back to her dorm room at night, hanging out with Simon and the girls in the between times. She didn't see much of Derek, other than the few times that he was with Simon or Liz, and he was gone just as quickly as he had shown up. Chloe had managed to catch up in school, though it was much harder than she thought since she had Algebra 1 this semester and she took to math like fish take to riding a bike. The homework that she had gotten on the first day had left her head spinning and had her up half the night working in the attempts to finish it. She had, but it was pointless, since she had gotten almost every answer on the sheet wrong. Most nights, she was up late working on her homework before passing out into an exhausted sleep. But one night, she managed to finish her homework early enough so that she could do some more research on the school.

Since the first day, Chloe hadn't seen Mila or felt the shock of power. She couldn't tell if it was a bad thing or a good thing, but it just seemed weird. Everywhere that she went, Chloe had seen ghosts. It didn't matter if she was at the supermarket or chilling in her bedroom, before she moved to Silverleaf, she had seen ghosts more than she had seen her friends. And since she had moved, she had only stumbled across one. Which didn't make any sense. This was an old school, not ancient but still pretty old. Anywhere that was build for more than a few years had ghost flying around. Especially the woods. From experience, she knew that woods were always full of spirits, either animal or human, and they always somehow found her. It was inevitable, but she hadn't seen one. She'd spent a few hours looking into the background of the school again, but she was unsuccessful. She wasn't even able to access the files she had been looking at about the St. Cloud Association from earlier. All the info surrounding the back of the school was blocked behind a wall of some kind and she was having trouble getting through.

Huffing out a breath, she leaned back and stared at her screen for a moment, willing it to work. When nothing happened, she closed it a little harder than she needed too, gently tossing it across the bed. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with this school and she was just being paranoid. Mila could have just wanted to talk, which wouldn't have been weird since she had met quite a few ghosts who only wanted to chat before they rested. And if that was the case, maybe her spirit resting had been what had caused the power surge she had felt in the dining hall. It was all explainable, but something didn't feel right about it. _God, I'm just going to make my head explode! I need some sleep._ Chloe stretched fully as she stood up and trudged over to her washroom to take a shower. Carefully placing her necklace on the sink counter so she didn't wear out the chain, she stripped out of the rest of her clothes and stepped into the spray of warm water. She couldn't help but be thankful that the rooms came with personal showers. She didn't even want to think about what it would be like to have a communal shower.

As she stood under the spray, Chloe let her mind wander back to her work. Chucking, she submerged her head in the spray. She remembered a time when work had meant writing a screen play or even staying up all night on the editing program she had gotten. But it feels like that was a lifetime ago. Now it meant keeping track of all things involving dead. Chloe shuddered, the hot water not able to shield her from the goosebumps the word gave her. Dead. She had the ability to talk to the dead. And Chloe had learned almost everything she knew about it from that book her mother had left someone called Benji. Chloe had gone through her notes and the book with excruciating detail too. Her head had actually started spinning at a point tonight and she still hadn't read a single thing so far about power surges that had to do with a necromancer, not even when it came to departed souls. _I hate that word_ , Chloe thought sourly. She went from being a relatively normal child to some kind of freak in less than a minute one day and it had ruined her life. Now instead of being worried about getting asked on a date, she was more worried about demon ghost and mystical energy surges. _God, I sound crazy_. But she wasn't. She knew that she had really felt that power surge and, more importantly, that Mila was a demon ghost. There was no way around that fact. No matter how nice Mila was to her, Chloe couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Mila was dead rather than an alive and kicking demon.

Chloe doesn't know how long she stays in the shower for, but it feels like it's a lifetime in the shower for what feels like forever. She stays until she feels sleepy, the warm water soothing as it runs over her skin but she doesn't turn it off until she feels it start to cool. Turning off the water, she reaches out and pulls two towels off the rack. Tying one around her body, she wrapped the other around her hair as she pushed open the curtain. What was waiting for her outside of the shower makes her much less calm than she was before, nearly falling back into the shower as she let out a shriek so loud that Chloe was sure that she had woken up the entire floor up as she finds herself face to face with Mila once again.

* * *

 **Annnnnnd done. I know, not nice of me to end it there but I gotta keep you coming back for more. Thoughts and comments on in the reviews if you please. R and R my lovlies, cause there is much more in store for you all.** **Toodles**


	4. Mila

**A/N: Honey, I'm hommmme. xD But seriously, I'm back and better than ever. Hot, sticky and wet (from humid rain, get your minds outta the gutter people ;) gosh) but I'm back. Just over a week, I think I made good time**

 **Replies**

 **JDrummond - What can I say, I like to surprise people. Chloe happens to be one of those people. And just between you and me, angels are awesome ;)**

 **Zane S. White - Well I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that Derek's knight in shining armor complex doesn't vanish in this story for sure**

 **SME13 - Chapter 4, hot and ready**

 **PurpleMoon13 - I thought the eyes comment was cute, I couldn't help myself, I had to add it in**

 **Onto le chapter xD**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Mila**

"Jesus, Chloe, shut up! You're going to wake everyone up!"

Mila's hand clamped over Chloe's mouth, catching and muffling the involuntary scream that had come out of her mouth. Chloe looked at her with wide eyes but managed to cut off her scream into more of a strangled sound. The last thing she wanted to happen was for someone to come in here and have someone wonder why she was screaming into space after her shower. _Some weird New Yorker tradition_ , Chloe's mind supplied as an alternative answer and Chloe internally rolled her eyes at herself. _Yeah, definitely. A weird New Yorker tradition that only_ crazy _New Yorkers do._

"Are you good now?" Mila asked, pulling Chloe out of her thoughts abruptly. Chloe only glared at her. "I'm being serious, can I let you go or will you start screaming again?"

"Well, I'm sorry! It's hard to not to when there's a fucking uninvited ghost in my bathroom!" Chloe's words are muffled by Mila's hand but from the eye roll Mila gave her, she knew she was heard. Attempting to swat her hand away, Chloe watched as her hand went through Mila's forearm as if it wasn't there. _Creepy_. Mila took back her hand as Chloe glared at her. "Seriously, what the hell, Mila?"

"I don't know why you're freaking out when you're the one who called me," Mila said as she gracefully sank down on the toilet seat. Chloe stared at her like she was crazy and Mila narrowed her eyes. "You _did_ summon me, didn't you?"

"Why the _hell_ would I do that?" Chloe nearly shrieked. Mila gave her a hard look and Chloe took a deep breath to try and calm herself. Taking one more deep breath, she tried again in an even voice. "Why would I summon you while I was in the shower? I don't swing that way, and more importantly, I've never summoned a ghost before."

Mila scoffed, leaning back to look at Chloe. "Well, you apparently have because I was basically yanked here by some invisible force. One minute I'm down by the library and I hear you saying my name, the next thing I know I'm in your steamed up washroom. So you must have summoned me."

Chloe sighed, pressing her forehead against the wall. She couldn't have summoned Mila, or any ghost for that matter. Summoning required years of practice, ingredients and, most importantly, strength and concentration. Chloe didn't have much of either of those. She didn't expect Mila to know how summoning worked, but she must know I wouldn't have summoned her into the washroom with me. It was crazy. "I didn't summon you."

"You did, but that isn't important right now." Mila gestures to a pile of clothing that lay folded on the sink top. When she looked back at Chloe, her eyes widened slightly as she took in the space around her like she had when they were standing in front of the D-wing. "I brought these in while you were showering. You take way too long. Get dressed. We need to talk."

Mila didn't wait from an answer as she disappeared from the toilet seat and Chloe was left alone in the washroom. She started mechanically pulling on her clothes, shaking her head in the process. _Great I'm taking orders from a ghost_ , she thought sourly as she tugged her shirt over her head roughly. Picking up her necklace off the counter, she secured it around her neck before walking out of the washroom, feeling a bit better now that she was actually clothed. It was freaky enough talking to the dead. She didn't need to talk to them sans clothing. She could only handle so much uncomfortableness at once and knowing Mila was a demon ghost wasn't making her feel anymore relaxed.

"Okay, what do you want?" Chloe demanded as she stepped out of the bathroom with folded arms. Her intention was to show Mila that she wasn't one to be pushed around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Dropping her hands, she peered around the empty room and frowned. _What the hell?_ "Mila?"

Before her eyes, Chloe watched as Mila's body flickers into reality. She had never seen a ghost materialize before. They had always just walked up to her, as if they were… alive. Mila let out an exhausted sigh and plopped onto the end of Chloe's bed. Giving Chloe an accusatory look, she asked, "What the hell did you do?"

"What?" When Mila continued to stare at Chloe as if she was the demon, Chloe threw up her hands in exasperation. "Nothing!"

Mila sighed again, pointing at Chloe, or more precisely, the space around Chloe. "What are you using to cover the allure of your powers? Because in the washroom, you looked like a homing beacon."

Chloe stared at Mila. Mila only stared back, saying nothing else as she waited for an answer. Chloe didn't know how much time had passed as they stared at each other, but her eyes were starting to burn from the stare off they were in. Blinking, she looked away as she rubbed her eyes. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. What is a glow?"

Mila continued to stare at her for another moment before narrowing her eyes. "How long have you been using your powers?"

"Using them? A year, probably less. But I started seeing ghosts six months before then," Chloe answered quietly. She was uncomfortable thinking about the first ghost she had seen. It wasn't a pleasant experience. "Why does _that_ matter?"

"It matters because I'm wondering how a brand new necro has enough power to summon me without tethering me to something," Mila said blandly. "Were even you trained? No, that's not likely either. Your recognition skills are weak at best, if you'd been training then you would know how to tell if someone were dead or not."

Mila kept muttering to herself as Chloe stared at her in confusion. Recognition skills and tethering? Those were terms from _Necromancia_ and she was sure of it. But those were also extremely advanced techniques that are only for people who have had either a mentor or have practiced for years. That level of power only came to those who wanted it and worked for it, basically renouncing the living and only working with the dead. And Chloe definitely wasn't one of those people. But as Mila continued to go through all the possibilities about how much power Chloe had, she couldn't help but wonder how Mila knew so much about her kind. From what she had read, necromancers were rare. Not endangered or anything but let's just say that the reasons she was always seeing ghosts were because they didn't have anyone else to talk to.

"How do you know so much about what I am," Chloe asked suddenly, cutting through Mila's mutters. "I thought Necromancers weren't common."

A dismissive wave. "We'll get to that later. You said your powers only surfaced a year and a half ago? You're… what, sixteen years old? Almost seventeen? That can't be right. I've heard of late bloomers but for you to get your powers at fifteen… that's basically unheard of. Besides, your glow would be more along the lines of a dimly lit bulb instead of spotlight. I've come into contact with necromancers old enough to be your grandmother and their glow wasn't anywhere near as bright as yours is, and this is diminished by the protection of the school and whatever—"

"Okay, stop talking." Mila's eyebrows rose but she stopped speaking. Chloe sighed, sitting down in the chair beside her desk rather than on the bed with Mila. She was pretty sure that Mila wouldn't attack her but she was going to be cautious with it. Nothing Mila was saying made any sense and she was getting frustrated. "I don't understand what you're talking about. Who _are_ you?"

Mila stared hard at her for a moment before she sighed, leaning back slightly. "I guess I should start from the beginning. My name is Mila Andrews and I'm a Demi-Volo. Assuming that you don't know the term, that means that—"

"You're a telekinetic half-demon?" Chloe finished, her lips twitching at Mila's look of surprise. "You're a ghost that can touch things. I do figure out some things."

"Yes, I can see that. But you're still clueless about our world. Did you even know half-demons existed before you met me?" When Chloe shook her head, Mila sighed heavily as she folded her arms. "I'll try to make this as quick as possible then. There are many different types of supernaturals. Actually, as races go, we're a pretty large and diverse one. I'm only telling you this because you need to know that there are others in this school. And you need to be careful."

Chloe frowned, licking her lips. The thought of others like her made her feel weird. Not a definite good or bad feeling, just a vague sense of belonging. "But that doesn't make sense. Why would any other supernatural want to hurt me?"

"The basic reason. You know, power, anger, jealousy or just for some sick kind of amusement." Mila let out a bitter laugh and ran a hand through her hair. Chloe noticed that other times she had seen her. Mila's hair wasn't in a tightly done braid but hanging around her face in a dark curtain of waves. "Do you know how I died, Chloe? I didn't commit suicide and I wasn't mugged or raped either, despite what the humans think. That would have been a picnic compared to what actually happened."

"You were…" Chloe felt her throat go dry at the thought and had to swallow hard around a lump in her throat to get the word out. "Murdered?"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Mila responded in a dry voice that seemed to grate Chloe's ears. "Yes, I was murdered. You think someone with my abilities and training could get killed by a _mugger_? No. My powers, unlike yours, surfaced when I was young, younger than most actually. The older I got, the more power I got. I was trained by my parents to hone my powers so they didn't get out of control. I spent my entire life honing moving things with my mind, lifting people and even cars to strengthen my powers. But I never knew my training was for… I wasn't ready."

Mila cut off, looking away at the wall and Chloe stared at her. _What was she trained for? What happened to her? Why?_ So many thought went through her head, but the only one she got out was, "What happened?"

Mila smiled, but it seemed cold and when she turned to face Chloe again, her eyes were hard. "That, my dear Chloe, is why I'm here. So it doesn't happen to you."

"W-What do you…" Chloe trailed off at the seriousness on Mila's face and slumped in her chair. _So_ I'm _not_ _the next ghost in Silverleaf Academy_. "Oh."

"I wasn't just jumped in an alleyway." Chloe glanced up at Mila and she was staring hard back, eyes flinty brown instead of the warm brown she had become accustomed to. "I know that's the story that they're telling but that's only where they found my body. I was kidnapped from weeks before. It happened during summer break, right after I graduated. I had planned on going on a vacation with my friends, but I never got there. I had gotten a text from my friend early that morning saying that I should meet them in the lot by the football field but they never showed. That's where I got kidnapped from. I was knocked out before I knew what was happening and woke up strapped to a table in a dark room. I was tortured for days for information that I didn't have. I was hurt in ways that I didn't even know were possible and then put back together so that they could do it all over again. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before and to this day, I have never seen it again. But it was one of us. And I wasn't the first person they had taken. They knew too much about us to not be one of us."

When Mila didn't say anything else, Chloe tried not to panic. That couldn't have been everything. "I don't understand."

"I know you don't," Mila sighed. "When I was tortured, they asked me questions. Where I was born, who I knew, when my powers emerged. It was all like they were doing a survey, very clinical for the first little while. It didn't take long for me to realize if I gave them what they wanted, I wouldn't have to feel pain. But then something changed. They started asking me different questions, questions that I didn't know the answer to. Questions about people and experiments. They wanted locations. I was never able to tell them anything and I was punished. Severely. But they kept asking, kept telling me how I could resist as much as I wanted, I would end up giving them someone. Apparently, the person who gave me up had a much stronger will than me and they squealed like a pig. But I didn't know anything so I couldn't tell them anything. The only thing I did know was that I wasn't able to use my powers which gave me a pretty good idea of where we were. The only place that had ever dampened my powers was here and only a powerful group of warlocks would be able to actually set up power dampeners since it drains their powers as well. Then one day I woke up in the courtyard as they were carrying my body away. I haven't left the school since."

"That's… horrible."

Mila glanced up and met Chloe's horrified eyes. It was horrible to think about and Mila had actually experienced everything. It made her stomach clench, but what Mila said next made bile rise in her throat. "I don't think I was the first and I definitely wasn't the last."

"There were more?" Chloe asked shrilly and Mila nodded. "How do you know it's the same guy?"

"I've talked to them, at least the one's who will talk to me. They all fall into the same pattern. All kids who went to this school who were 'mugged' and found in an alleyway somewhere in town weeks later." When Mila said the word mugged, Chloe wasn't sure if she had ever seen a look of hate so intense before. "And it's been going on for longer than I was able to track. There was always one death a year, if I remember correctly. I never gave it a second thought, not really. I remember once thinking how weird it was that there was always one death, always in that same stupid alley every year. Always mugged. But I never gave much thought to it until I was the one that ended up in the alley. If I could remember who it was, I'd kill them and be at peace. But they always wore a mask and I didn't recognize the voice. But I did remember the names that they asked about. And every single on of them have come to this school, the last being you."

Chloe swallowed hard, a shiver running up her spine. She couldn't help but remember the circumstances of how she ended up in Silverleaf. She had been accepted to a school in Belgium, where her dad had been working a six-month project. She had intended to stay with him until he left but when the contract had been pulled suddenly, there was nothing that she could do. With her record, all the schools around her were out of the question. Her Aunt had naturally suggested Silverleaf and she had fought it but she really didn't have any other choice. It had always seemed weird how suddenly the contract was cancelled, but her father would only tell her that another company had taken over the buyers and didn't want him working. But with what Mila was saying, she was wondering if it was that the company didn't want her father working for them or didn't want _Chloe_ in Belgium.

"I don't know why, but there is someone hunting us," Mila said, her eyes wide and urgent. "Over the past three years, three people have died at this school. First me, then Brady, then Peter. Both of the guys were on the list they had and you were the last person on it. And you've just walked right into their hunting ground by coincidence? I think not. I think they saved you for last because you're powerful. I mean, so was I, but you're stronger. I was the strongest Volo I knew and the school left me as powerful as a beginner Migro. Even now, I have problems using my powers. I can touch things but it takes a lot of my energy. In some places of the school, I can't even go into. But you. I've read about necromancers' glows before, but you… I thought you were bright when I first met you but in the washroom, you looked like a neon sign. And that's with the school dampening your abilities. I'm pretty sure you would look like the sun without the school's dampener in place."

Chloe knew she should take it as a compliment, but she didn't know what to say. Glow? Power? Migro? Everything was just sending her head spinning and she didn't know whether to be scared or cynical. She had heard tall stories from ghosts before, so how was she supposed to believe Mila. Even though everything she said sounded too horrifying to be made up. "How do I know if you're telling the truth?"

Mila stared hard at Chloe before getting up to stand in front of her. "You can see it all if you want."

"I can do what now?"

"See it." Mila grabbed Chloe's hand and yanked her onto her feet. Startled, Chloe stumbled forward, nearly going through Mila. "It's a Necro power. You can see into any dead person's mind and watch their memories. Kind of like telepathy."

Chloe yanked her hand back, looking suspiciously at Mila. "Necromancers can't read ghosts minds. That's bull."

"If it's bull, then it won't hurt to try."

Placing Chloe's hand on her forehead, Mila closed her eyes in concentration and Chloe tensed. After a moment and nothing happened, Chloe relaxed, ready to move her hand back when she found herself not in her room anymore but in a cold dark space. Her attempt to turn her head was hindered by something that was strapped across her forehead, keeping her against the table. The same went for all of her limbs and she felt fear running through her. Suddenly, she wasn't in the room anymore but standing in the courtyard as she watched a man dressed in all black load something big into the back of a black van. In some part of her mind, Chloe knew that these images weren't real and that they weren't her memories, weren't her feelings. But it was hard to pinpoint things as images started flashing by almost violently before Chloe's eyes. She was thrust back in the room again and she was crying for some reason, her stomach splitting with pain as the cold metal of the table burned against her back. Chloe felt emotions that weren't her own rip through her. Fear, anger, and pain were the most constant however. The rest of the images became blurs as the emotions started to take over. Instead of seeing the scene in from of her, the only thing Chloe was able to feel was the pain as something stabbed into her side and the anger and frustration from not being able to use her powers. She did hear questions being asked, but the words weren't coming through. It was all too much. Chloe had no control over what she was seeing or feeling. And the more images that came, the harder it was for Chloe to tell the difference between Mila's memories and what was actually happening.

As fast as she had been pulled into it, Chloe was suddenly shoved back into the real world so fast that she felt nauseous. Clutching her stomach, she ran to the washroom and got to the toilet in time to hurl the chicken Caesar salad that she had eaten for dinner. "God, that's horrible."

"Sorry about that." Chloe didn't even have the ability to jump as she tiredly turned to Mila. She was standing at the door, twirling her finger in a strand of hair. "I didn't know it would be that intense… or even really work."

Chloe scowled at her, her head still light. "You didn't know it would _work_?"

Mila grimaced slightly. "Well, not exactly. I'd only ever read about it before, I've never actually… I'm a telekinetic demon, not a necromancer, okay? I only met my first one a few months ago. I read a myth that necros were able to more or less read a ghosts' mind as another way of communication so I took the chance. It paid off and now you know you have another power."

Chloe stared at her for a moment and then laughed. Hard. Not a little tired chuckle or a giggle either, she let out a full blown, gut-wrenching laugh. She laughed so hard that tears filled her eyes and her stomach burned from it. _The chick is crazy_ , Chloe thought as the laughter took on an edge of hysteria. Even though Chloe felt like she was going to pass out, she was almost certain that she was better off afterwards. She needed to let out her stress and it was either screaming, crying or laughing. She took the last of the three options because showing weakness to a demon didn't sound like the smartest plan. Speaking of the demon, Mila was looking at her like she was insane. Actually, she might be insane. Chloe suddenly felt very happy that Mila wasn't able to mind meld with Chloe. The thought brought on another wave of hysterical laughter and Chloe had to bite her lip not to give into it. _I'm a fucking Vulcan. I_ am _Spock._

"Did I break you?" Mila asked, concerned and Chloe shook her head. "Oh, god, good."

"It takes more than that to break me. Hard as a rock, my skull."

"I can see that." Mila took a deep breath and crouched down to be eye level with her. Chloe panicked for a moment, wondering if ghosts could smell puke, because she definitely reeked of it after hurling what was left of her lunch into the toilet as aggressively as she had. "I need you to focus for a moment, Chloe. You're the only person left that I know they're after, whoever they are. So you need to be careful. Someone is hunting you and they're powerful enough to overpower some pretty impressive supernaturals. I don't think they're working alone. But together, I think that you and I could put an end to the killings."

The lump that had resided in Chloe's throat earlier was now back in full force, making it impossible to swallow now. This was all too much to process. For a moment, Chloe wished that she could go back to the way things were before. Not before Mila had shown up, even though it was nice to be in bliss at the school, but before she had seen ghosts at all. It was an easier time. It was a time that she could call herself sweet, innocent Chloe and know it was true. But that moment passed and she was still sitting on the ground in front her toilet feeling clammy as hell. This was her life now. And for better for worse, she was going down a path that she would be damned if she didn't complete it. Her life was in danger. She would be damned if she was going to sit around and wait to die. Besides, she had a feeling that if she stuck with Mila, she might be able to figure out some more things about herself and her powers. Maybe even met more supernaturals that weren't trying to kill her that could help her train. And figure out what that damn feeling was that she got when she was walking around on the first day. Taking a deep breath, Chloe looked at Mila steadily in the eyes.

"I'm in."

* * *

 **And there ya go. I tried to not make it a cliff hanger as much as possible, but there was a lot of content in there soooo yeah. Also, the way that Mila's history was described is different than how I planned on having the others' history described.**

 **Question of the day, do you like better: flashbacks or dialogue explanations? Why? Let me know in the reviews! See you soon guys!**

 **Love, Brii**


	5. Lucky Me

**A/N: I am sooooooo sorry for the wait. School is a pain and midterms have been kicking my ass for the last few weeks. I have one left next week, but it gave me enough time to finish this one without my head exploding! But I am done, not my best work, but I think it's okay? I don't know, I babble so I'll move to these lovely reviews and let you get to reading :)**

 **Replies** **:**

 **Jdrummond - I'm glad that you like Mila, she's definitely a main part of the story**

 **Guest 1 - So many questions, but at least you're asking at the right ones**

 **Huntsman-in-the-snow - Right you are**

 **Zane S. White - I'm glad you like it**

 **Guest 2 - Very soon, the drama is on the way**

 **Emma - Thank you so much! I'm glad that you like it!**

 **SME13 - Drama is on the way, I promise! Soon**

 **Rephiamlovers123 - I'm so happy you love it**

 **Guest 3 - I know it's been a while since I updated but I won't leave you guys high and dry, promise**

 **Well, that's all I have to say so here is the chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Darkest Powers.**

* * *

 **Lucky Me**

 _I'm in_.

Chloe shut her book with more force than necessary, groaning as she put her head down. It had been almost a week since she had told Mila that she would help find her murderer, the murderer who was, supposedly, after Chloe and nothing had happened. Mila had gone off, telling Chloe she was going out to get more information and leaving Chloe on the floor with her head in the toilet. The mind melding had really taken a toll on Chloe. She felt exhausted and sluggish. More than once this week, one of her professors had sent her the nurses office. She was beginning to get very well acquainted with the school nurse, Mrs. Wang, who she wasn't very fond of. She was a small Asian woman with hard brown eyes and a very mean demeanor that was so off-putting that Chloe had considered going back to class instead of staying with her. When Chloe had shown up, she had been treated more like an inconvenience than a sick student. Chloe couldn't help feeling like she had somehow insulted Mrs. Wang by being sick. But Mrs. Wang had let her sleep, which was actually the best thing since Chloe was just _so_ tired. This morning had been better. Chloe hadn't run straight to the washroom in the morning to puke her guts out, which was definitely a good sign. But she still had to get excused to go to the nurse and sleep away the remainder of her morning classes. Now, though, Chloe was sitting in the library and she was sort of pissed.

Chloe couldn't believe what she had agreed to. Of all the crazy, stupid things she had agreed to, this definitely took the cake. She had agreed to track down a murderer on the premise that the ghost hadn't been lying to her. It's not that she didn't believe Mila, on the contrary, there was almost no doubt in her mind that Mila had meant everything that she had said. The problem with that was, she didn't know if that was enough to go on. This was a dead, vengeful ghost she was dealing with and Chloe had met quite a few of them in her time. Ghosts that think that their peace won't happen unless they can find a way to get revenge on the person who killed them, or wronged them. More than once, it had ended with Chloe having to push the spirit away, which she preferred not to do. She didn't think about it too hard, but a part of her always wondered where they went when she pushed them. The book had never specified that and she didn't want to push Mila anywhere. Despite being part demon, Chloe actually kind of liked her. But she didn't know what to believe with Mila when it came to her memories. Because yes, Chloe would be an idiot if she didn't believe the things she had seen—no, she had experienced when she went into Mila's mind. But she hadn't actually seen anything to prove that Chloe was in danger. And with Mila going MIA for the past week, the doubts Chloe was having were turning into serious concerns.

 _Am I really being hunted?_ Chloe thought as she picked absently at her uniform shirt. _Or am I just letting Mila manipulate me? What's really going on?_

A sound to her side brought Chloe out of her thoughts and she glanced around. Though there had been people in the library when she had come in, she had opted for the part of the library that was basically deserted. Chloe frowned to herself as she opened the book in front of her again. A quick glance at her phone showed that she had more time than she knew what to do with before lunch ended. Chloe stared at the book in front of her. It was her math textbook and Chloe had been attempting to make sense of her current unit of Algebra. Emphasis on attempting, since she was pretty sure that she understood even less than she had originally thought she had.

"I swear, this is Satan's favorite subject," Chloe muttered darkly to herself as flipped meaninglessly through the pages. The teacher had suggested that she should seek outside help, but Chloe wasn't really up for a tutor. Chloe was aware of what she looked like. Even though she had the red streaks, she still had the blonde hair and the big blue eyes that the Hollywood movie dumb blonde heroine had. She really didn't want to live up to the stereotype. Plus, she really didn't anyone knowing how stupid she actually was. She was fine if the teacher knew, but she really didn't need to be the talk of the school. She could see it now. _New girl too stupid to be in remedial math_. Chloe snorted in distaste. _Wouldn't that be super._ The teacher had also mentioned a book that she could check out that would help her catch up with the rest of the class because they didn't have time to go back over the basics again with so much to cover. At least, this was a suggestion when the teacher had actually thought that Chloe had enough brain cells to actually accomplish independent studying. Chloe was pretty sure that her teacher thought that she was too stupid to understand anything anymore. But it couldn't hurt to look.

Chloe shoved away from the table and stood up, grabbing the arm of her chair to steady herself when her head stared spinning. Giving herself a shake, Chloe looked around purposefully. She was standing in the middle of the math and science part of the library already. Not on purpose, it just seemed to be the most deserted part of the library and she had wanted to be alone. Partially because she wanted to take another nap, but mainly because she didn't want anyone to see her summoning Mila. She hadn't really known what she was doing and, mostly, she didn't need anyone here thinking that she was crazy. Chloe was aware of how it must look, calling out to someone that everyone knew was dead.

As she walked through the rows of books, Chloe glanced through the titles. Most didn't make sense and she didn't really know what she was looking for. _What was that book called again_ … Chloe continued to scan through the books until she came across the title, Algebra for Dummies. _Well, it wouldn't hurt to give it a read_ , she thought sourly as she plucked the book out of the shelf. Flipping idly through the pages, she skimmed the content before nodding to herself and walking back the way she came. But as she reached the end of the shelve, a voice made her stop in her tracks.

"…more here. We have to tell Dad."

Chloe would recognize that rumbling voice anywhere. It was Derek. As quietly as she could, Chloe crept around the corner of the stack and peered down the row to see Derek and Simon standing across from each other. For some reason, Chloe didn't want to show herself just yet. She wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling that she didn't want to interrupt this conversation. Not just because it seemed like a personal conversation. She just had a bad feeling. Chloe turned to leave, but Derek's next words made her freeze.

"Simon, there is another batch of supernaturals here and I don't know who they are."

Chloe felt her breath catch in her throat as she stood frozen beside the shelf. Turning slowly, she looked back at the boys to where Simon was now leaning back lightly against the shelf behind him and Derek had his arms folded across his chest, looking as intimidating as ever.

"Derek, we knew there were more of them. That's why we came here, to get them," Simon said, sounding slightly annoyed. "I don't understand why you're suddenly in such a panic, D. I've never seen you like this."

"Because they're my kind, Simon, and for some reason, I can't track them. Which means they're hiding and they're dangerous." Derek didn't sound worried so much as he sounded annoyed. "I tracked the other idiot and he hasn't bothered us, but this one is different. He's marking his territory, Simon. The only reason that I know he's here is because he wanted me to know that he was here. And I don't like that."

Chloe frowned as Simon spoke. "Derek, there isn't much we can do right now. We were placed here and we can't leave until Dad come gets us. Until then…"

"Simon, we can leave whenever we want and go _find_ Dad. He hasn't contacted us in weeks. He's in trouble and you know it."

Simon glanced away and Chloe got a look at his face. It was different than the carefree smile that she was used to seeing as she passed him in the halls or saw him in class. He wore an expression of intense concentration and pain, making him look much older than he actually was. Chloe moved back slightly to make sure that she was out of his line of sight but it didn't seem that he was really seeing as he looked off into the distance. After a moment, he sighed and looked back at his brother.

"We stick to the plan, D. We're here to find the supers, nothing else." He ran a hand through his hair and laughed without humor. "We were placed here to find them and convince them, so we _can't_ leave. Especially if Dad's gone, we need to up our game and get our job done. Because if we don't convince them, they'll end up dead."

"Shut up."

"Der—"

"Someone's here."

Chloe gasped and swung back around the corner as quietly as she could. She could hear her blood thumping in her ears so loudly that it nearly drowned out the sounds of everything else. Taking a deep breath, she slipped away from the shelves as quietly as she could and made her way back to her things, checking over her shoulder every few seconds in few of seeing Derek looming behind her. _How did he know that I was there?_ Chloe thought, looking around again. It was like he could sense her presence, but then after what he had said, she wasn't really surprised. _They're my kind and they're here… I can't track them… What the hell does that even mean?_ Chloe shook her head at herself, trying her hardest to decipher the conversation she had just overheard. Most of it hadn't made any sense but she now knew a couple of things. Simon and Derek were both supernaturals, or at least, Derek was. But by the way he had said it, Simon was one too. Did that mean that Tori was one as well? If Simon was in fact a supernatural, than she could be as well if he got it from his father. From what Chloe had read, powers were hereditary. But that wasn't what had really stuck out to her. They had said that if they couldn't convince the other supernaturals that they'd end up like Mila. Did that mean that they were trying to keep people from being killed… or did it mean that they were the ones killing people? One thing was for sure though. She didn't want to find out if the latter was true.

Reaching the table, Chloe dropped the book on the surface and quickly started shoving her things back into her bag. She might not know much about math, but she could put one and one together to make two. If Simon and Derek were really involved in the murders that had been going on in the school, she didn't want to get caught alone with them. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't standing, Chloe glanced down at her phone. She had about five minutes before lunch ended and she had to head for to English.

"You're really reading a book called, Algebra for Dummies?"

"Fuck!" Chloe jumped, her hand flying to cover her mouth as she spun around to come face to face with Mila. Clutching at her heart, Chloe glared at her intensely. "Seriously, what the actual _fuck_ , Mila! Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?"

"Sorry," Mila said with a coy smile. "But are you really that bad at math?"

Chloe scowled, giving her the finger as she zipped up her bag. "Where the fuck have you been?"

"Finding certain things," Mila said vaguely, cocking an eyebrow at Chloe. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

Reflexively, Chloe looked behind her expecting to see Derek and Simon. Upon not seeing them, she turned and zipped up her bag. She needed to get somewhere that wasn't in the main view of anyone walking by. She was more than aware of what would happen if anyone saw her talking to Mila, or what they would actually see, which was her having a very intense and hardcore conversation with the air. That's why she had ended up here. Before she had realized what she was, she had started talking to ghosts in public like they were normal people. Not that you could really tell if they were or weren't ghosts without a lot practice, but she really didn't want to be living in a rerun of "people think Chloe's crazy". Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she strode off into the nearest aisle of books and turned to face Mila.

"What do you mean, certain things?" Chloe hissed at her, folding her arms. "Can you not fill me in?"

"Not until tonight, no."

Chloe sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You know, this is getting really tiring. I agreed to help you, and then you basically tell me to sit on my hands and you'll be back. That isn't really reassuring and, more importantly, it won't help to find the person that did this to you any faster!"

Mila frowned, but kept silent as her eyes scanned over Chloe's face and widened slightly. "Are you okay? You look—"

"Dead." Chloe supplied dryly, huffing out a humorless laugh. "Apparently, the whole Vulcan thing I can do takes a lot out of me. Apparently that's why necromancers always look like the dead. Guess we don't live long and prosper that much."

"Chloe—"

"Forget it," Chloe interrupted, shifting her bag strap higher on her shoulder. "Even if you don't have information to tell me, I have some for you. I think Simon Bae and Derek Souza are involved in the killings."

Mila stared at her for another moment before shaking her head. "Bae and Souza can't be involved in this."

"How do you know?" Chloe challenged, lowering her voice slightly. "I just overheard them talking about people that are their own kind of supernatural and that if people don't listen to them, they'd end up dead."

"They could have been talking about a game."

"What game involves people dying and being _placed_ in a high school. Not to mention, supernaturals that they can't track. It sounds—"

"Sketchy, yes, but I don't even think they had moved to town when I was taken," Mila reasoned, folding her arms together. "Besides, these murders have been going on for years. They're too young to have committed all of them, especially by themselves."

Chloe paused, seeing the reason in what she was saying and deflating slightly as her theory became less believable. But there was one more thing that could put it all together. "What about their Dad? They said that he placed them here. Maybe he's the one who's been doing the killings and he's the one we have to stop. Because they _are_ supernaturals."

"We don't know if they are. Besides, they weren't even _here_ when the murders started, Chloe. How do you explain that?"

"Tori," Chloe said after an initial pause. Mila stared at her blankly and Chloe hurriedly explained. "Tori is their half-sister. What if instead of her always going down, they came up once a year to have a family get together? If they stayed in a hotel for the weekend, nobody would have noticed them."

This time, Mila paused. But when she opened her mouth to say something, the sudden shrill of the lunch bell cut and making both of them jump. Chloe shook her head, pressing her hand over her heart. Mila sighed, folding her arms as she looked back at Chloe. "I'll check it out, but I doubt it. Go to class."

"Mila, wait—"

Before she could get another word out, Mila vanished before her eyes and left Chloe standing there with her mouth hanging open. Throwing up her hands in exasperation, Chloe stalked out of the library, mostly in exasperation. Was this her life now? Cryptic ghosts, serial killers and mystical Vulcan migraines? Throw in that three of the four people she hangs out are probably part of the supernatural serial killer gang and this is a definitely a Hollywood movie in the making. Chloe shook her head at herself as she weaved her way through the student body that was starting to fill the halls. She really was living in a movie. She fit the classic Hollywood mold of a heroine to a T. The cute blonde-haired girl with big blue eyes that always needs to be saved from the bad guys by some knight in shining armor. _As if_ , Chloe snorted but let her mind travel back to the scene in the library. The heroine stumbles across the bad guys in the middle of one of their scheming sessions, only to nearly get caught by them mere moments after figuring out their dastardly plan. _Dastardly?_ Chloe thought dryly, rolling her eyes at her inner monologue. _Could I be anymore melodramatic? Well, yes, I can but that's not the point._

Chloe was so caught up in making her perfect scene that she ended up running face-first into a locker door. Letting out a string of curses, Chloe clutched at throbbing head. _Fucking great. Just when I was starting to feel better_. After assuring herself that she hadn't severely damaged any part of her body, she turned to apologize to the person whose locker she probably dented with her thick skull. That apology got stuck in her throat, however, when she ended up face to face with the smirking Liam Malloy.

"Well, what a surprise. How you doin', cutie?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, fighting not to openly sneer. "Liam, not now."

"Hey, you ran into me," he smirked, gesturing at the locker beside him. "Actually, you ran into my locker. Thanks, by the way."

"Oh, any time, Liam. Whenever it comes to you, I always end up banging my head into something hard."

Liam's eyes flashed and Chloe instinctively took a step back, startled. Whatever flashed through his eyes had sent a chill up Chloe's spine and as he smiled, Chloe couldn't help but feel that it was something that she never wanted to find out the meaning of. "Oh, come on, cutie. Why you gotta be so mean?"

"Because I don't like you," Chloe said coldly as she tried to walk away. Emphasis on try because as she made her way around him, Liam fell into step beside her. "Leave me alone, Liam."

"Chloe, come on, I'm just walking you to class, is all," he drawled, smirk still in place. "Most girls would be thrilled, besides, we _are_ going to the same place after all."

 _Don't remind me._ Chloe scowled at him, sneering at his appearance. From his greasy blond hair that was pulled back in a ponytail to his varsity jacket, she didn't see what all the girls were going crazy for when it came to Liam Malloy. "Yes, well, most girls also can't seem to see how repulsive you are."

Liam's eyes flashed again as he grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop in front of their class. "Play nice, Saunders. You wouldn't want to get me mad, would you?"

Chloe could feel her heart beat double at the threat, but she couldn't let on that he scared her. She knew people like Liam and they thrived on fear. She wasn't going to give him the pleasure. Narrowing her eyes at him, she ripped her arm out of his grasp. "You wouldn't be threatening me, would you, Liam? The school take kindly to any form of violence."

Liam's smile came back but it was colder this time, his blue eyes turning into glass shards. "Not a threat, cutie. A promise. So—"

Liam cut off with a sharp exhale as he was hit in the back with the door. He spun to see who had done it but there was no one there. Liam stared at the door in confusion and Chloe blinked, tilting her head. She hadn't seen anyone walk in.

"Why are you just standing here? I gave you an out, use it!"

Chloe jumped at Mila's voice in her ear, but listened all the same as she quickly made her way around Liam and walked through the open door. Dropping down at her desk, Chloe let out a breath of relief. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mila sit down in the seat next to her that usually remained empty with her eyes still glued on the door. At Mila's triumphant smirk, Chloe glanced at the door to see a very pissed off Liam storming in to sit at his desk at the front.

"Thank you," Chloe muttered under her breath to Mila as she placed her head on the desk.

Chloe kept her head there as the rest of the class started trickling in. In the span of half an hour, she had ended up with more questions than she had answers. Where had Mila been since she disappeared and what were the certain things she had been looking for? What type of supernatural were Simon and Derek? Where they actually involved in the murders? Was she their target? Is that why Tori had introduced her to them? Was Tori in on it? Was Liz somehow apart of it? The questions just kept spinning around and around in her head, making more and more questions. Chloe just couldn't figure out what was going on anymore. Was this what going crazy actually felt like?

A thump on her desk startled her upright, and she looked down to see the book from the library sitting on her desk. Frowning, Chloe looked over at Mila. Seeing the question in her eyes, Mila shook her head. "I didn't put it on your desk. He did."

Chloe's eyes followed the way she was pointing and found herself trapped in the green-eyed stare of Derek Souza. Feeling her eyes widen, Chloe tore her gaze away and stared down at the book. Oh, no. She must have left it on the table she had been working at when she had packed up her stuff and not put it into her bag. More importantly, he must have seen her with the book if he gave it back to her which means that he knew. Oh, no. She was so dead.

Chloe sunk into her seat as class started, staring blankly at the board in front of her because he mind was racing off in a completely different direction than English class at the moment. Derek knew that it was her who had eavesdropped on the conversation. He had to have known. That's why he gave her the book. So that she knew that he knew. But now that she did, what was going to happen? Were they going to kill her for finding out? A tiny part of Chloe wanted to scold her for having such an overactive imagination, but the rest of her was too freaked out by the fact that he _knew_.

A sudden sharp pain in her leg brought her out of her head and Chloe hissed under her breath as she rubbed her shin. Looking over, she saw Mila staring hard at her before nodding up at the front. Zoning back in, Chloe realized that the period was almost over and she had zoned out for most of the class. Guiltily, she tried to make sense of what the teacher was now droning on about, which was the partner presentations that they were going to do for the rest of the year and how he had picked the partners for the first one.

"Please don't complain to me about who you're partnered with," Mr. Karavan warned in a bored voice. "If you complain to me, I cannot assure you that I won't laugh in your face. You're all old enough to work with people you don't like, so act your age please."

There was a collective laugh and groan. Chloe couldn't help but smile. Mr. Karavan was a pretty cool teacher and he was totally a heart stopper. He was probably in his mid-twenties and he had a smile that made your knees go weak. He was also very dry and sarcastic, so when he said he would laugh, Chloe had no doubt that he was telling the truth.

"Partners are as followed. Try not to complain too much."

Chloe leaned forward as the names started to be called one by one. Chloe closed her eyes and silently prayed to whatever god or higher power out there that she wouldn't have the worst luck and get stuck with Liam Malloy. _Anyone but Liam please_ , she begged as she listened to Mr. Karavan.

"Liam Malloy," Mr. Karavan said. "And Amber Long."

 _Thank you, god_. _Maybe I don't have such bad luck._

"Chloe Saunders and Derek Souza."

 _Fucking hell, the universe hates me_.

* * *

 **And it ends as it begins. I'm super excited for the next chapter, cause all the things I've started setting up will actually start happening. So promises of proper drama in the next chapter, okie?**

 **And did I mention how actually happy I am about the reviews? Cause like, omg thank you guys so much :) I love you all, I'll see you soon and that is a promise.** **Tootles.**


	6. The Boys

**A/N: Hey babes, I'm starting off with an apology cause I didn't think that school would be so hectic that I couldn't even write this. I made my schedule so that I would have free time and I've been going nonstop for weeks. And now I'm doing exams and I'm super stressed, but the one tomorrow is somewhat easy so I pumped this out while I had the need to write. It took like two hours longer than usual and IDK if you'll like it as much or what you were expecting, but here it is :P But enough about me and my Uni stress, onto the replies because y'all deserve replies.**

 **Replies** **:**

 **JDrummond - I'm glad that you liked the chapter, I hope that you like this one too! Mila has always been one of my favorites too**

 **Guest 1 - Please tell me that you've kept your excitement all this time cause I love that you loved the chapter. And Chloe will be dealing with Derek very soon**

 **SME 13 - I know, I'm super late but can you forgive me? I hope your heart's okay, cause there's going to be some serious drama in the next few chapters**

 **HetaliaGirl-21 - I love that you love it! Like your review really made my day when I read it so thanks so much for leaving it!**

 **Huntsman-in-the-snow - Next chapter is ready for you and I hope it lives up to your expectatations**

 **Guest 2 - I'm glad that I make you feel so many emotions! That's what I aim for so I'm glad that I'm doing it somewhat right :)**

 **geekgamergirl - I don't think I could drop this story, I'm as invested in seeing the ending as you guys are :) But I'm super stoked that you think my chapters kick ass**

 **Guest 3 - I'm sorry! The update is here, let the torture stop**

 **starfire31803 - The universe believes in Chlerek as much as we do**

 **Quick Warning:** Keep the story summary in mind when you read this chapter. Chloe's a bit OOC in this story. I made her a little less soft spoken and a little rougher around the completely, but remember that I said 'even worse attitude'. Meaning Chloe does have a bad attitude.

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **The Boys**

"Chloe!"

Chloe jumped and let out a, thankfully, muffled yelp from behind her sweater as she looked over at Tori. The girl in question had ripped Chloe's earbuds out of her ears none too gently and was staring at her with annoyed almond eyes, Chloe blinked back at her in confusion, rubbing her ears slightly as she stared back at Tori. "Ow. I think you ripped out a piece of my ear with those."

"Chloe, what's your problem?"

Chloe frowned at Tori, tilting her head as she put on her wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that bullshit," Tori snapped, glaring at Chloe again. "Liz and I have both noticed how off you've been for the past few days. What's going on with you?"

Unconsciously, Chloe's shoulders tensed as her gaze shifted from Tori to where Liz was watching her with a look of concern. Chloe glanced away from the girls to flit her eyes around the library, a feeling of dread settling in her stomach. Tori was right. Over the past few days, Chloe had been acting strange. She had been distancing herself from the group of them and she knew that she had somehow gotten even jumpier than she used to be. It was all just a result of what had happened in this very library less than a week ago. After overhearing the conversation between Derek and Simon, Chloe didn't know who she could trust anymore. She had no idea if the girls were in on it or if it was just the boys to watch out for or it they weren't even involved to begin with. She just didn't know, and that was the thing that had left Chloe on edge for the last few days. Not to mention that Mila had disappeared to go find out if they were really involved and was supposed to come back to see her that night. It had been four days since that happened and she still hadn't heard anything from Mila. It wasn't exactly making Chloe feel warm and fuzzy inside about the place. Actually, if she was being honest with herself, she was scared out of her mind for what might have happened to Mila, and what might be coming for her. The thoughts she had absorbed from Mila's head had started appearing in nightmares for Chloe after she was no longer passing out into an exhausted sleep at night. The only reason that she had agreed to go to the library with Liz and Tori was because Chloe thought that there would be minimal talking and she didn't want to look suspicious. But apparently, neither of those things were happening for her.

"I-I-I…I'm fine, just stressing over my project with Derek," Chloe said as smoothly as she could with her stuttering. "I'm not very good at partner projects."

"Really?" Tori asked skeptically and Chloe nodded slowly. "You're worried about a project?"

Chloe nodded. It was the first idea that came to her head and an act that she played well. Looking innocent, playing dumb, and acting like she was the damsel were the things expected of her. Chloe was definitely going to use it to her advantage today. "I mean, yeah. I get nervous and I start stuttering. Plus, I don't think that Derek likes me very much. I don't think he's even said ten sentences to me since I've gotten here."

"Oh, Chloe don't take it personally!" Liz said quickly, leaning across the table to grab Chloe's hand. "Derek just doesn't like to talk a lot. He doesn't hate you!"

"Liz is right. Derek really isn't one to talk much. It's the way he's always been," Tori replied, leaning back in her chair to really look at Chloe. "Is that seriously why you've been acting so off? Worrying about Derek?"

Chloe had to fight not to roll her eyes. _Of course not! I couldn't give a flying fuck whether he likes me or not, I'm worried about whether or not you're all planning to kill me!_ Looking from Liz to Tori, Chloe tried as hard as possible to keep her innocent look and tried to be as truthful as possible. "Yes. I mean, I've always felt kind of weird around Derek. But I feel like it's different somehow. We were partnered together on Monday. It's Friday and he hasn't even approached me with anything involving the project yet. It just seems like I did something to upset him."

"Don't worry about it, Chloe, really!" Liz patted her hand reassuringly. "I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding."

Chloe gave Liz a small smile before turning back to Tori. "Can I have my earbuds back now?"

Tori handed her back her earbuds with a calculated look that put Chloe slightly on edge. She was sure that Liz was fooled by her semi-lie, but she couldn't be sure about Tori. The girl was smarter than she let on, being one of the school's top programmers and hackers. Tori had brains and she saw through bullshit, Chloe wasn't sure that Tori believed what she was saying. But she couldn't let on that it was a ruse. So Chloe placed her earbuds back in and went back to working on her laptop, counting down the moments before the time together with them would pass.

A sudden shock pulled Chloe out of her head, shooting up her arm and through her body, much like it had on the first day. Inhaling sharply, Chloe clenched her teeth together against the sudden sensation. It wasn't bad. Actually, it felt almost refreshing. It was like she had just gotten hit with a lightning bolt from the energizer bunny. Instead of it hurting, it felt like she had gotten recharge. After the whole mind melding situation with Mila, Chloe had felt like she was under the weather constantly. At any type of physical activity, it felt as if she couldn't catch her breath. Just walking up the dorm stairs would have her wheezing. But now she felt like she could go on a marathon. _Head rush_.

Her mind was still jumbled as a shadow fell over her and she found herself looking up into the blank face of none other than Derek Souza. The sight of him sent her heart racing and she found herself holding her breath in fear. But that was absurd. For all she knew, Derek didn't even know she had overheard his conversation with Simon on Monday. He probably was leaving the library and saw her leave her book on the table. That was all. He didn't know anything, and she shouldn't worry. At least, that's what Chloe was going to tell herself so that she didn't panic. Plus, they were in the middle of a crowded library. There were too many people here for him to be able to abduct her.

Blinking up at him, Chloe found herself mesmerized by the swirl of Derek's green eyes, noticing how they seemed almost cloudy as they stared back at her. This was the first time that she was really looking at him since Monday, and it seemed as if the irises were shielding his emotions behind two curtains of opaque green. However, the longer she looked into them, the more she was able to see annoyance poking its head through the curtain. Tearing her eyes away from his, she realized that Tori and Liz were staring at her expectantly. Looking back at Derek, she could see the same expectancy on his face as well as unmasked annoyance.

Pulling out an earbud, she tilted her head to the side. "What did I miss?"

Derek's face flashed with annoyance and he folded his arms. "What's the topic?"

"What?"

"The presentation," Derek rumbled slowly as he pulled out a strip of paper from his pocket and put it on the table. "What is your topic?"

The way that he said that made Chloe's jaw clench. In less than ten words, he had managed to make her feel insignificant and stupid. Subconsciously, Chloe straightened up slightly to stare back at Derek with a blank expression of her own. Chloe recognized the paper that he had put down on the desk. It was from class. Mr. Karavan handed out theme cards earlier today. She wasn't stupid and she would not tolerate being treated as such. "Paranormal."

Without another word, Derek snatched up both of the papers and left. Chloe stared after him for a moment before turning to the others for an explanation. Tori just shrugged, looking back at the clothing website she was surfing on while Liz gave her an apologetic smile. "That's just Derek. Sorry, Chlo."

Chloe frowned, staring after the dark-haired boy well after he had left her line of sight. If there was one thing that she definitely knew about Derek, it was that he didn't care about social graces. That one thought seemed to spread through Chloe's mind as she packed up and left Tori and Liz in favor of going back to her dorm room. It was a thought that seemed to swirl around her head, just like the thought of being Derek's partner had seemed to swirl through her head for hours after she had found out. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't notice Simon heading her way until she literally ran into him. She stumbled back and managed to steady herself before she fell over.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Didn't see you there."

"No worries." When Chloe looked up, Simon was looking down at her with a carefree smile. It was one that she had become accustomed to the longer she was with him. It always left her so relaxed, unlike how on edge she felt whenever Derek was around. "I was actually coming to look for you."

Chloe's eyebrows rose. "Well, you found me. What's up?"

"Uh, are you heading back to the dorm now?" Simon asked, frowning. "I thought you were studying with the witch and Liz."

"I was studying with Liz and _Tori_ ," Chloe emphasized. Simon's smile only widened and he shoved his hands into his pockets. "But we were kind of interrupted so I left."

"So Derek did find you." Chloe felt herself bristle slightly and she nodded. "Was he rude?"

Chloe frowned, thinking back on their interaction again. "Not exactly. He's just... very straightforward."

Simon nodded, a crease appearing between his brows. "Yeah, that's Derek. He doesn't really see the point in conversation. If you have something he needs, he'll just straight up ask for it. He doesn't really leave room for mistakes."

"Yeah, I noticed," Chloe muttered with a slight scowl. "Is that why you wanted to talk to me?"

"Uh, no…." Simon's voice trailed off as he seemed to catch sight of something behind me and he frowned, deep enough that he looked years older than he actually was. "I have to… go. But I'll talk to you later, right? We've barely said two sentences to each other all week."

Simon touched Chloe's shoulder before taking off the way she had come into the library. Frowning to herself, she glanced behind her to find the way clear other than the few kids who had decided to take out books themselves. _Are all the people in the Bae family weird?_ Chloe wondered to herself as she walked out of library and down the hallway that lead to her locker. _Weird and attractive_. Chloe didn't know where the thought had come from but it was true. It was something genetic because both Simon and Tori turned heads wherever they went in school. It was like day and night. While Simon was the classic heartthrob with the varsity jacket and the poster boy smile, Tori was almost gothic in her custom style and had boys basically drooling over her when she walked by.

Opening her locker, Chloe quickly shoved her science textbook back in her bag and swapped it for her math textbook. She hesitated slightly before pulling out the next math book. She hadn't touched the library book Derek had left on her desk apart from when she had thrown it into her locker. But with her midterm coming up in two weeks, she couldn't really risk holding out on it. As Chloe placed the last book in her bag, her locker door suddenly slammed shut, narrowly missing her nose by a breath.

"Switch partners with me."

Chloe's wide gaze shifted from where she was staring at her locker to the girl standing beside her. The girl had long red hair that cascaded over her shoulders in waves, hanging in front of the red and black cheerleading uniform that she was wearing that showed a little too much skin. She held herself tall, and even with Chloe standing up straight, she still found herself at least three inches shorter than the redhead. The girl had her manicured hand resting against Chloe's locker and Chloe could only assume that it must have been her to have slammed it close. Racking her brain for a name, Chloe remembered seeing her on the first day surrounded by guys in the cafeteria. Amber Long.

"What?"

"I said, switch partners with me," Amber repeated as her cold blue eyes stared into Chloe's. "It's obvious that you don't like Derek, so just let me be his partner."

Chloe frowned, tilting her head to the side. "Mr. Karavan doesn't allow partner switches."

"Oh, please, Karavan doesn't give a rat's ass if we stay with our partners or not as long as we do the presentation." When Chloe just frowned at her, Amber gave her a fake sweet smile as if it would sell her. "Come on, Cleo. What's the harm? You take my partner and I take yours. Everybody wins."

 _Yeah, but what's the catch_. Chloe thought as she stared at Amber. There was no way that the 'It' girl was coming to her for something without an alternative motive. "How does everyone win?"

"Well, I get Derek and you get away from him. It's obvious that you don't like him. Plus, you and Liam seem—"

"Malloy?!" Chloe interrupted incredulously. And there was the catch. Amber wasn't coming to her to help Chloe. She was coming to her because Liam wanted her to. "You must be out of your mind. I'd take Derek over Liam any day."

Amber's eyes flashed but she kept her smile pasted on her face. "Yes, but _I'm_ asking you to switch."

"And _I'm_ saying no."

At the word, Amber's demeanor changed. Her smile dropped and her face hardened. It seemed as if she didn't hear the word no a lot. "Listen, you're new so you don't know the rules. When I say I want something, I get it. If I ask you for something, you give it to me because you want me to be happy. Because when I'm not happy, I can make your life a living hell here. You'll learn that you want to stay in my good graces, it just makes everything so much easier."

Chloe couldn't help herself. She laughed. Not only did she laugh, but she laughed hard and she laughed a lot. It wasn't as if she meant to. It had just been a very tense week and this girl was the last thing that she needed, yet what she had said seemed so funny to Chloe that she couldn't stop her laughter. She dissolved into giggles mere moments after her outburst, the only thing that brought her back from the edge of her almost hysterical laughter being the look of outrage on the girl's face. Honestly, Chloe found the look so completely ridiculous that she nearly dissolved into laughter again. But she managed to contain conceal it behind a cough.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh in your face but you can't be serious," Chloe said after a moment. When Amber just stared back at her blankly, she shook her head. "I mean, I don't know you and being in your good graces isn't on my to-do list."

"You should watch your tone, Cleo." Chloe's eyebrows rose and she stared into the ice blue eyes of Amber. That was the second time that she called her Cleo. "You think because you are buddied up with the Vicky Bae, you can do whatever you want? Newsflash, I _control_ this school. It's easier to just give me what I want now, before I have to force you to."

Chloe nodded slowly, zipping up her bag. She had been to enough schools to recognize Amber's personality type. The queen bee. She had people kissing her ring, head cheerleader, and always felt oh-so-important. It was enough to make Chloe sick. Actually, it was enough to make her mad. She hated when people thought that she was pushover. Just because she was small and blonde didn't mean that she couldn't take care of herself. Quite the opposite. But Amber was going to find out just how little she tolerated bullies.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Chloe said quietly as she zipped up her bag. "Why exactly do you want Derek as a partner?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Amber spat and Chloe quirked an eyebrow. "But if you must know, it's because he's about to be the 'It' boy of the school. He's starting quarterback and Liam's only the second string. Every star in the school needs to have their _personal_ cheerleader. And when football season is over, I'll be on his brother's arm again, just like last year. Not the only thing that I'll be on though."

Chloe's cheeks flamed, whether from annoyance at her tone or from embarrassment over what had been said to her, she wasn't sure. Either way, she wanted to end this conversation now, and she planned on doing so. This girl needed a serious reality check.

"Okay, so I've come to the conclusion that you're not only delusional, but slightly sociopathic," Chloe began in a hard voice. "Reality check, sweetheart. First of all, I'm pretty sure Derek doesn't even know that you exist. Derek is in a world of his own and he doesn't talk to anyone outside of his family other than Liz, and that includes me. I've said less than twenty sentences to the guy and I already know that he wouldn't be caught near your fake ass. Secondly, Simon? Way too fucking good for you. You're a grade A bitch who's going to amount to nothing if all you have under your belt is how much control you have over the student body. Lastly, and most importantly, my name is Chloe. C-H-L-O-E. Not Cleo. But I'm sure you already knew that because if you planned this with Liam, who I'm sure is almost if not more psychotic than you are, I'm sure he would have told you what my name is already. You know why? Because just like you, he's obsessed with something that he isn't going to get. If I haven't made it clear, I'm not going to switch partners with you, but thanks for closing my locker door. My hands were full and it was very thoughtful of you."

Chloe shoved past the redheaded girl sharply, walking briskly away from her. Chloe knew that her temper had gotten the best of her and that she shouldn't have been so quick to the draw but after years of being put down, she wasn't going to just take someone talking to her like that lying down. Just thinking about what Amber said had made her blood boil. The reason she had pretended not to know her name was because Chloe knew that it took away her power. Amber was the queen bee, well known around the school. Her reputation always preceded her, reaching new people before she did so that she never had to introduce herself. Taking that away took some of her power away, something she had learned a few years back when she had encountered a rude child who thought that everyone knowing her name meant she was 'badass'. _God, it was always the same. Stupid girls and their stupid cliques and their stupid obsession with being all powerful. Fucking bitches._

"Jesus, I thought you had an attitude before but what did that girl _do_ to you?"

Chloe startled slightly, tripping over her feet and lurching forward. After regaining her balance for what seemed to be the millionth time today, she turned her head to glare at the dark-haired ghost standing beside her. "Mila, your whole 'disappear for days on end' thing is seriously starting to grate my nerves."

Mila held up her hands, taking a step away from her. "Hey, calm down, Chlo. I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I was having a hard time following the boys. I'm basically drawn to you because of your power, which makes me able to stay on this plane. But when you're not around, it's almost impossible just to be on this side of the plane, let alone be somewhat corporeal. A few hours following them around the school and I was basically drained of energy. I needed to go regroup."

Chloe felt some of her anger wash out of her and she frowned at herself. It wasn't like her to get so angry so fast. Glancing over her shoulder, she gulped. She couldn't let her temper get out of control with her powers. Bad things happen. "Yeah, all right. Let's get back to my room."

"Yeah, I got something to show you."

Chloe silently made her way back to her dorm, taking the steps two at a time. Her brain was back on what she had said to Amber. She had just gotten so mad so fast. Chloe remembered how her Aunt used to describe her as the sweet, innocent girl that looked so much like her mother. Not anymore. Aunt Lauren probably knew better than anyone else how hot Chloe's temper ran after what happened in Buffalo. But she didn't want to think about that. It was over now, there was no point in thinking about it.

Closing her door behind her, Chloe turned to look at where she presumed that Mila was sitting on her bed. "What did you..."

Chloe's voice trailed off as two shapes started forming behind Mila. Unlike how Mila could appear and disappear at random, these ghosts seemed to have trouble maintaining their forms as their bodies seemed to flicker in and out of form as if they were smoke in the wind. Eventually, though, they seemed to solidify into two boys standing on either side of Mila. The taller, and older one from the look of the other boy, had dark hair and a scowl etched on his face the moment that it appeared. His brown eyes flitted around the room and narrowed as they rested on Chloe for a moment before going back to scan the room again. The other boy was smaller, in height as well as build, with blonde hair and bland blue eyes that lacked enthusiasm. His face was neutral as he looked around the room, widening slightly as his eyes came to pass over Chloe. Eyes glued on her, he whispered something to Mila and she smiled, nodding absently as she watched Chloe.

"Chloe, this is Peter Ricci and Brady Hirsch." Chloe's eyes widened slightly at the names and her eyes met Mila's. An understanding passed between them and Chloe knew why Mila had brought them to her. She was looking for more information about the murders. And who better than other victims. "Guys, this is the girl I was telling you about."

"Her?" the dark-haired boy said with disbelief before turning to address Chloe. "What even are you?"

"A necromancer. I talk to the dead."

The dark-haired boy snorted, shaking his head. "Mila, you're insane if you think that this little girl could ever help us. She'd sooner get herself killed. Plus, she looks like she's the same age as Peter! Have you even hit puberty yet?"

Chloe glowered at the dark-haired boy, but before she could say anything, Mila stepped in. "If you're stopped running your mouth and actually looked at her, you would see that she is more powerful than anything that you've ever seen before. And that's with the school dampening her powers. She's a fucking strobe light, Hirsch. The stronger they are, the brighter their glow. And this girl is literally a homing beacon. Do you understand how much untapped potential is lying in this room?"

"Obviously. I'm in here."

"I'm pretty sure that she said untapped potential, not enormous buckets of narcissism," the blonde boy, Peter, added in. "Brady, please stop insulting the people who try to help us. The last time you insulted someone that wasn't me or Mils, you ended up dead."

Brady scowled at the boy, but he seemed to hesitate before looking back at Chloe. The three seemed to have a silent conversation in front of her and she narrowed her eyes at them as he turned back to her. "I'm… sorry. I'm just… a skeptical person and I don't see how you can really do anything."

"Aww, you almost managed to apologize to someone," Mila said sweetly before turning her attention back to Chloe. "Okay, now ask us whatever you need to. Between the three of us, we probably have some good information."

Chloe sighed, feeling the toll of the week pressing on her. There had been too many things that happened for her to process them all. She had so many questions and not enough answers. But after the past month and a half at this school, she couldn't help but hope that the people that she found herself getting close to had nothing to do with. Chloe couldn't help but hope that Liz and Tori were actually her friends and that Simon and Derek weren't plotting to kill her. But she had learned by this point that the only thing that hope really did was breed misery.

* * *

 **Sooo, what do you think? Not enough drama? Too much of it? Chloe too outspoken? I want your thoughts and your opinions. Feedback is my best friend, okay?**

 **I would just like to say your reviews are lovely and your support is the best. This fandom is awesome, no lie. R and R if you please, I love you alllllllllll.**

 **Tootles, Brii :)**


	7. Alleyway Encounters

**Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate it! Happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate it! And for those who don't celebrate either, I'm going to say Happy Holidays :) Because, let's be real, we're all happy to have a little time off on this happy weekend, right? Anyway, story is coming along nicely, don't you think? I had this huge spiel about life and stuff that I was gunna post, but I'm actually really tired right now and my brain isn't completely functioning to the highest level soooooo replies then story ;)**

 **Replies** :  


 **JDrummond - I'm glad the descriptions are so vivid to you! I was hoping for that, so I'm super happy :)**

 **Huntsman-in-the-snow - I'm glad that you like sassy Chloe! Some people don't and it makes me sad. More Derek interactions in the chapters to come, promise**

 **Zane S. White - I'm glad you liked his personality!**

 **Guest - I was actually thinking about a Derek POV too, but I might make that after I'm done this entire story. You know, see the other side of the story and how he sees all of these events. But I felt like doing it _in_ this story would give too much away too soon**

 **GeekGamerGirl - I'm glad you like it :) And let's just say that Buffalo was a hard time for our cute little Chloe**

 **All right, enough with the stalling, onto le chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers :(**

* * *

 **Alleyway Encounters**

"I didn't think that you were going to show up."

"Sorry," Chloe yawned, sitting down on the bleachers beside Tori. A few weeks ago, Liz and Tori had managed to convince her to go on out to town after she had settled into school. When Liz had suggested this weekend a couple of days ago, she hadn't hesitated in saying yes. She hadn't even remembered until Liz had sent her a text an hour ago apologizing for an unscheduled cheerleading practice and asking Chloe to meet her at the field, somewhere she really didn't want to be on a Saturday afternoon. "Forgot that we were going out until I say the text."

Chloe yawned again and shifted into a more comfortable position. To say that last night was rough on her was barely scratching the surface of what was going on in that room. From the time that she had arrived to nearly three in the morning, Chloe had tried to gather as much pertinent information from Brady, Mila, and Peter as possible. But once again, it had led to more questions than answers. And the questions that actually got answered didn't do much to help them find the killer. Actually, most of the information last night just made it very hard to sleep. Chloe had woken up constantly in a cold sweat with terrifying nightmares fading away as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes. She was starting to give up hope that there really was anything that she could do to help them and all the information was currently doing was making her jumpier than she originally was. A fact that was proven when Tori tapped her shoulder and Chloe let out a squeak as she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Jesus, Chloe," Tori said as she snatched her hand back. "What's got you so jumpy?"

"Late night," Chloe mumbled, rubbing her thumb and forefinger against her eyes. "Didn't get much sleep."

"Yeah, well, stick to decaf because you don't need to get any more jittery." Chloe smiled wryly, but otherwise kept silence. She thought that it was the end of the conversation. Tori preferred her phone to most human contact so she assumed that she wouldn't pay her any more attention. That assumption was wrong. "So I heard you finally got a face to face with Amber."

Chloe peeked an eye open to glance over at Tori. "Who told you that?"

Tori nodded to the field. "Liz mentioned it last night. And apparently you really made an impression."

Chloe's eyes skipped away from Tori to sweep over the field, zeroing in the redhead in question. Pursing her lips, Chloe lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. She didn't really want to talk about this. "You could say that."

"Seems she brought out the New Yorker in you," Tori added and Chloe's eyes snapped over to Tori. Tori was looking down at her phone again, scrolling through some sort of feed. Chloe couldn't tell if she was baiting her or not. "You lived in the Big Apple, right?"

"Yeah." _Not technically a lie. I did live there at a point._

"You must have gotten the _best_ shopping. I mean, you must have gotten those killer shoes from JC Penny. They're gorgeous. I would never want to leave N.Y.C.; I would be in heaven."

Chloe let out a breath of relief as Tori spent another few minutes talking about the many different clothing stores in New York. All she could think about was how relieved she felt because it seemed like Tori didn't know about her previous school experiences. _She probably chalked it up to me moving all the time_ , Chloe thought absently with a smile. _And if she doesn't know why I was here, then she can't be the one hunting me. Because they must know everything about me._

With that thought in mind, Chloe felt her mood brighten slightly even as a small part of her brain nagged at her about how weak of a reason it was. She didn't get to think about it much, however, as Liz was suddenly skipping back in their direction with her high ponytail bobbing in the wind. After the initial cheerful greeting, Chloe followed the two chattering girls away from the field back to the main campus building. As they made their way through the mostly empty building, Chloe let her mind wander as to how they were getting there. But when she voiced her question, Tori just waved her hand dismissively.

"We have a ride."

Chloe frowned as they went around the corner, nearly stopping in her tracks as she pushed through the front doors to see a black pickup truck and the people standing in front of it. "Oh. I thought this was a girls' only outing."

Simon and Derek were standing across from each other, having what seemed to be a very intense conversation by the way that Simon's hands were flailing everywhere. But unlike the conversation in the library, Simon had a huge grin spread across his face as he spoke, his laugh floating down the hallway to us. As they approached, both boys turned to look at them and it was clear that Derek was less than happy to be here. Chloe had a feeling that she didn't look much better.

"You're late," Derek rumbled, eyes on Tori. "I'm not your chauffeur, Tori."

"Whatever," she said smugly, smirking up at him. "Like you had anything better to do."

"Jump off a roof?" Simon mused. "Poke myself in the eye?"

"What?"

Simon snorted, leaning against the car door. "Listing all the things that are better than dealing with you."

"No fighting!" Liz interrupted before Tori could get out a retort. "We are going to have a nice day out with lunch and a movie. No fighting. Please?"

Tori shrugged, walking past them and slipping into the back seat. Simon rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he held the door open for Liz and Chloe. Liz climbed in immediately with a small, grateful smile and Chloe looked around. Her fight or flight instincts were going into overdrive and she couldn't figure out how she could get out of this. To get in this car with them, after everything that she did and didn't know, would be the ultimate leap of faith. And she wasn't much into leaps of faith anymore. She didn't trust anyone as far as she could throw them, and being her size, that really wasn't very far. But if she got in this car and nothing happened, she would know what her friends weren't a part of the nefarious plan to kill any supernatural that walked into the school. But if something did happen, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to fight them all off at once, even though she believed that Liz and Tori really weren't a part of this. _This isn't a good idea. This is way too risky. I can't—_

"You going to stand there all day or get in?"

Derek's voice snapped Chloe out of her thoughts and her eyes traveled to him where he was standing beside the truck. His eyebrows rose as he met her gaze head on, a challenge in his eyes. Chloe's eyes narrowed and her chin jutted out slightly. "Maybe if you weren't blocking the door I would be able to get in."

Derek's eyebrows rose and Simon tried to cover his chuckle with a cough. It didn't really cover anything though and he smiled warmly at Chloe. "Front or back?"

Chloe's eyes flitted away from Derek's gaze to Simon's warm one and she couldn't help but smile back at him, relaxing slightly. "I'll sit with the girls. Anything to keep you and Tori separated."

It was apparently the right joke to make because Simon laughed and waved her in. Chloe climbed in with a stony look to Derek as she passed him. Tori and Liz were chattering away about what movie they should see and Chloe felt her heart pound in her throat as the door closed behind her. Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to relax as the boys filed into the car and started it up. _Here goes everything_.

Two hours later, she found herself waiting in line at an old school cinema with the gang, all thoughts of supernatural killers and ghosts pushed from her mind for the time being. As soon as they had gotten into town, after the _long_ car ride, Liz had made it her job to reintroduce the sights to Chloe, which she appreciated greatly. It had been years since she had stepped foot in this town and she was glad to be reintroduced to the things that had made her so happy when she was younger. The next thing that Chloe knew, they were all scurrying over to a theater to look at different movies.

"So I heard a rumor that you wanted to be a director," Simon started conversationally as they walked. Chloe cocked an eyebrow at him and he smiled. "Or was it a screen writer? Liz told me when she was talking about going to the movies and l thought it was interesting. What genre are you into?"

Chloe shrugged. It had been a while since she had really thought about movies. Her life just seemed to be an ever-playing horror film. "I don't know, everything I guess. Horror was always a fascination of mine."

"Oh really?" he asked, eyes searching her face. "I would have pegged you for the romantic movie type of girl."

Chloe snorted, shaking her head. "Yeah, no thanks. I mean, everybody likes a chick flick now and again, but I can only handle so much Nicholas Sparks movies before I get queasy from cheesy pick-up lines and poorly written plot lines."

Simon's eyes danced with amusement as he looked away from her. She did the same, thinking that the conversation was over until he started up again. "Horror movies have better plot lines?"

"Yes and no. Some do, but I don't really watch horror movies for the plot. I mostly watch it for the horrible C.G.I. and unrealistic stuff happening in it. It's insane, you know? Demons and witches and ghosts. It's just fun to get a break from reality." _At least, it was until it became my reality._ Chloe rolled her shoulders and looked away, forcing a smile onto her features. "Enough about me, what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"A scientist." He said it with a straight face but one look from Chloe and they were both sent into a spiral of giggles. When they had finally managed to catch their breath, he shook his head. "Oh, I don't know. I want to do something that involves art. Maybe publish some comics and make some video game art."

Chloe couldn't help but feel her interest peek at the thought of comic books. "You draw?"

"Yeah, enough to drive my Dad up the wall and my art teachers crazy," Simon chuckled at the thought and shrugged. "I'll show you some time. Maybe we could do a comic together."

Chloe felt a jolt of excitement run through her at the thought and felt her cheeks begin to warm for an inexplicable reason. Mumbling an affirmation, she sped up slightly to catch up with Liz and Tori, who had pulled ahead while Derek had hung back behind as Simon spoke to her. He hadn't done much other than grunt responses while they went around. The other seemed to accept it as forms of communication and Chloe figured that with enough practice, she would soon be well versed in Derek grunting as well. When they asked what movie he wanted to watch, he just shrugged and made a beeline for the food station.

The movie that they ended up watching was, in fact, a chick flick. Chloe had to hold in a groan at the stupidly romantic lines being spewed on the screen the entire time. That and the lack of sleep were making her drowsy enough that she was starting to nod off. She spent the first part of the movie fighting not to dose off. Simon seemed to be having the same problem, t had enough action for Simon not to complain the entire time, but Chloe could tell that he was bored out of his mind more than once as he fidgeted beside her. Eventually, the fidgeting started driving her crazy and she tossed a piece of popcorn at him, watching as it bounced off his nose. Sometime after that, Chloe must have fallen asleep because she startled awake when the lights of the theatre with her head resting against Simon's shoulder. Blushing furiously and coughing awkwardly, Chloe stood up quickly and nearly spilled her popcorn everywhere. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Simon stood up as well, rolling his shoulders as he turned to talk to Derek but not before she saw the grin that flashed across his face. _Note to self, get a full night's sleep._

"So what did you think of the movie?"

Chloe looked up at Liz as they walked out, shrugging. "Not my thing. Kind of boring, really."

"Is that why you fell asleep?" Tori teased as they made in the lobby.

Chloe's cheeks burned slightly and she couldn't help but glance at Simon before looking back at Tori. "I told you, I didn't get much sleep and the movie was really boring."

Tori opened her mouth to say something when a sharp voice cut straight to Chloe's ears.

"What the fuck are you?"

Chloe whipped around, spilling the remainder of her popcorn all over Tori as her eyes zeroed in on an angry looking man with beady eyes and a horribly scraggly beard. Her eyes widened as she looked at herself and then around at the faces in the group. Tori looked beyond pissed off, swiping at the kernels that were sticking not only to her clothes but in her hair as well while Liz frantically tried to help her as she picked popcorn out of her hair and looking at Chloe with a look of confusion. Simon was doubled over with laughter, not noticing the panicked expression on Chloe's face. But it was Derek's expression that really sent Chloe over the edge. When her eyes finally moved up to his face, he was watching her intensely and his gaze made her feel as if he was looking inside of her soul. It seemed that no one else had noticed the man who was now stalking over to her. She couldn't let them see her talking to a ghost. She needed to get out of there. Now.

"I-I-I need a-air," Chloe managed to stammer out as she turned and all but bolted outside into the quickly diminishing sunlight. She had forgotten how early that it got dark now that Halloween had passed. Heart thumping in her chest, she whipped her head around in desperation to find somewhere that she wouldn't be seen. She could hear the man from inside calling angrily out to her and Chloe knew that she needed to get out of sight fast. Blinking against the burning rays, she spotted an alley beside the theater. Sprinting into the alley, Chloe clutched at her heart and tried to calm her breathing as she leaned against the wall. It would have worked if the man hadn't popped up behind her.

"You!"

"Fuck!" Chloe shrieked, hand flying to cover her mouth as she stumbled away from the wall. "S-stop that!"

"So you _can_ see me!" he yelled. "What are you?"

"Can you stop yelling for like two minutes?" Chloe asked breathlessly, looking around. The alleyway appeared to be empty and now that she was away from the group, she could feel her heart pound a little bit less. She knew that she would look crazy if she had started having a conversation with nothing in the middle of the theater. Especially since this certain nothing was giving her such a bad vibe. Even from across the theater, she could feel the negative energy running off of him. "I'm a necromancer."

"Necro-what?" the man asked incredulously, eyes narrowing. "You're one of those little brats who are all into devil-worshiping, aren't you?"

Chloe shook her head, instinctively rolling her eyes. "I'm not a devil worshiper. I can just talk to the dead. Help them move on."

The ghost glared at her, folding his arms. "Oh, really? And what's that nonsense glowing around you? It's practically vibrating."

"It's an aura. I think." The more he spoke, the more Chloe heard his southern accent. He wasn't from around here and Chloe couldn't help but wonder why his spirit was floating around a small town movie theater. "So did you want to talk? I mean, that's why you followed me, isn't it? So that you could talk?"

The man snorted, shaking his head. "I came out here to find out what sort of demon was hanging around my home. I was wondering why I was suddenly pulled away from what I was doing and then there you are, glowing in the lobby. This town is a Christ-loving town and you aren't going to go corrupt no boys with your ways. I bet you couldn't even step foot into a church. Be gone, demon spawn!"

Chloe stared blankly at the old man as he continued to spew hate at her. She was so caught up with him that she didn't even realize there was someone behind her until it was too late. A hand clapped over her mouth as something sharp came to rest at against her windpipe, effectively stopping her from making any sounds. "Wrong place to wonder into, rich kid. You're going to keep your mouth shut and do what I say. Failure to do so will get your throat slit. Understand?"

Chloe kept her mouth shut as she nodded, mostly out of surprise. It was a girl. One that meant business by the way that she pressed the object, Chloe assumed it was a knife, into her neck hard enough to break skin and Chloe hissed involuntarily at the stinging sensation. The girl maneuvered Chloe so that she was facing the wall and started patting her down, pulling Chloe's wallet out of her pocket. Even as she was being mugged, the ghost kept talking. He was currently going on about how she deserved this and all Satan-worshipers were to be punished in the name of the lord. _Yeah, okay, old man_ , Chloe thought as heard her wallet fall to the floor beside her. There wasn't much cash in there, less than fifty if she was right. She didn't keep big wads of cash on her anymore, after her friend Kari had been mugged down in New York.

"Turn around." Chloe did as she was asked, slowing turning to face the girl. She had dark hair that hung oily over a face that was covered in rashes, cuts and acne, probably not that much older than Chloe was. A clear junky if she had ever seen one. Desperate for more money, which Chloe saw with the way that her eyes were raking over Chloe as she looked for something else to take. When her eyes came to rest on her neck, Chloe swallowed against the sting of the cut under her jaw. "I was right. You _are_ a rich kid. Give me the necklace."

Chloe's hand instinctively flew up to where her necklace was hanging on her neck. Her _mother's_ necklace. Chloe looked the other girl in her dead, brown eyes as she spat, "No."

Suddenly, there was a knife at her jugular and she felt the tell-tale prick of it piercing her skin, forcing her to tilt her head up to avoid puncturing her artery. "You're brave, aren't you? Fine."

There was a sudden burning sensation at the back of Chloe's neck as she felt the necklace being ripped off her neck, the chain breaking with the force of the tug. And suddenly, it felt as if the whole world got brighter for Chloe in that moment. All her senses seemed to go into overdrive and her head felt like it was suddenly imploding. Suddenly, the ghost from the theater sounded as if his voice was being amplified by a speaker and she could _feel_ everything around her. All of it was too much. The dark haired girl let her go and Chloe's hand flew to her neck, feeling the tell-tale stickiness of blood where her hand touched. But the only thing Chloe could think about was getting her necklace back. She had to get her necklace back. She couldn't lose the necklace.

"Thanks for the jewelry, kid," the girl said with a greasy smile as she backed away from Chloe with the knife held in front of her. It hurt Chloe's eyes to look at her but she managed to zero in on the necklace as she felt a stab of anger course through her. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"What the—" the old man's voice cut off with a gurgled scream and when Chloe's eyes flashed away from the girl to the old man, he was gone. But she could still feel him a little bit away. _But why can't I see him_?

The thought was answered a moment later when something jumped out of the dumpster behind the girl and they both screeched to the high heavens. Because what jumped out of the dumpster wasn't human. No, that wasn't right, because it was human. A decayed human carcass that was up and about because of the screaming necromancer. The carcass of what looked to be the remains of the old man started crawling towards the junkie girl and she did what any normal human would have done. She screamed and ran, dropping everything in her hands in the process. Chloe watched her mother's necklace clink on the floor, the garnet red stone landing smoothly as the girl shoved past her and ran down the alley without a glance behind back. Chloe turned to watch the girl run out of sight before she looked back at the body facing her, almost in a daze until it started advancing on her and she realized the gravity of the situation. She might have somehow managed to shove his soul into his body, but she had no idea how to take him out.

"F-Fuck," Chloe stammered as she started to back away. She couldn't leave him in the body. He would just follow her back to school, terrifying people in his wake until she released him. But she didn't know how. "Fuck, fuck, fuck! How the fuck do I always end up here?"

Chloe was desperately trying to figure out what to do over the pounding of her head when she felt something behind her moments before her back hit it. Eyes widening, she whipped around to find herself looking at a dark shirt that led up to a piercing set of green eyes. Eyes that weren't focused on her, but on the thing behind her. _Shit_. Chloe took a step back from Derek, automatically trying to figure out some sort of explanation to cover up her actions when she felt a bony fingers graze her ankle and she shrieked loud enough to jump start him into action. Grabbing her arm, Derek yanked her away from the corpse and into himself, hard enough that her arm burned even after he let go. Clasping a hand over her mouth to cut off her scream, he quickly moved her away from the dumpster and to the opposite wall of the alleyway.

"You need to release it."

 _What?_ "W-What?" Chloe asked, her voice muffled by his palm. Derek removed his hand from her mouth and she tried again. "W-What do y-you—"

"You reanimated a corpse, now you need to release it," Derek snapped, looking over his shoulder at the corpse. Chloe couldn't see it because of the way he had positioned himself in front of her, a barrier between the body and her. Though his face was calm, his voice and shoulders were tense and Chloe had a feeling that he was as freaked out as she was. "You put it in there, you can take it out."

Chloe gulped. "B-But I didn't… I didn't m-mean to."

"That doesn't really matter now, does it?" he quipped, but his remark feel short due to the strain of trying to keep it calm. "Figure out how to release it. Before it gets to us."

Though Chloe couldn't see where the corpse was, she could feel it's presence through Derek and that was enough to get her brain started again. Her senses were still raging out of control, making her see and feel everything around so much clearer than she usually could. Chloe figured that she could use it to her advantage, though. From everything that she had read, you had to have spells, channeling, and all sorts of ingredients to summon a ghost into its previous body. But somehow Chloe had managed to do it without any of that help so that meant she could release if she could just focus. At least that was what she hoped. Chloe tried to block out all other distractions of her senses. One by one, all her senses dropped off of her radar until the only thing she had left was the feeling of the spirit in front of her. She was so focused on feeling it and trying to release it that she didn't know it was _right there_ until it suddenly grabbed her ankle again and she jumped, knocking into Derek.

"Chloe, calm down and release it."

The strain in his voice told her that he wasn't exactly the epitome of calm either but she used it to her advantage, focusing her frustration into her powers. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and stared down at the corpse, seeing not the rotting body, but the angry man inside of it. " _I release you_."

The voice Chloe used didn't sound like her own as it came out full of power and crackled with energy. But the moment that the words escaped her lips, she felt the rush of the spirit leaving the body as well as the rush of energy leaving her body. Slumping against the wall, she looked down at the corpse that still had a hand on her ankle and a shudder ripped through her body. She shook it off of her leg almost violently, letting out a deep breath before looking up at Derek. "I released it."

"Yeah, I know." Taking a step back from her, Derek looked down at the body on the floor before looking back up at her, his green eyes almost glowing in the near darkness. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. "We need to talk."

* * *

 **So much drama, so little time. The bittersweet ending, so close yet so far ;) Guess Chloe and Derek are going to _have_ to communicate now, huh? But then there's cute Simon and his flirty ways. Hmmmm, what will happen next?**

 **BTW, I'm super happy that you guys liked sassy Chloe. She's a fave persona of mine. I had someone read through this chapter to see if I wasn't going to fast and they woke me up at six in the morning in attempts to make me write more so I'm hoping that you guys like it as much as they did. It's kinda light on words, but I didn't want to add in too much more. I felt like it would have just made it super bulky.**

 **But I want your thoughts and opinions so R and R if you please. Brii out! Tootles ;)  
**


	8. Experiments

**Happy Holidays! Yes, I've said it before and I will say it again. I _love_ holiday season and now that it isn't snowing, I can do something that mildly resembles socializing. Just kidding, I'm sitting at home in the dark in my super cluttered room as I write you guys more chapters :) So what are y'all doing on your breaks? I'm doing some spring cleaning... in the middle of winter, yeah. I wanted to post this on Christmas but I kind of got side tracked with the family parties and such. I was _that_ _girl_ who brought their boyfriend to Christmas dinner, so it was interesting to say the least. But enough about me, let's go to the reviews**

 **Reviews:**

 **JDrummond - You've got a very vivid imagination and I love that**

 **Guest - My boyfriend actually :) He's super dedicated even though he's crazy for waking me up. I'm horrible in the morning.**

 **Starfire31803 - Thanks**

 **Zane S. White - Chloe and Derek talking is usually the best thing anyone could hope for**

 **Guest - Sassy Chloe is a guilty pleasure of mine and I couldn't help but put her in this story. Hoping this update is soon enough!**

 **Huntsman-in-the-snow - Thank you! I'm glad that you're able to really see their personalities. It's been tough.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not know the Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Experiments**

"Here."

Chloe blinked up at him, frowning as her head pounding. Derek's voice was like thunder on an otherwise quiet night; startling and loud in her current state of hypersensitivity. Derek pressed something cold into her palm and she immediately felt her headache retract. A quick glance down showed her that it was the remains of her mother's necklace that the mugger had discarded in her attempts to flee the scene as quickly as possible. Wrapping her fingers around the pendent, Chloe took a deep breath and felt like she had emerged from deep water. "Thanks."

Chloe wasn't sure if Derek had heard her or not as he quickly turned back to what he was doing. In the moments after she released the body, he had quickly moved the body from where it had been in front of her to lay beside the dumpster, shielding it from the view of any stragglers who might come into the alley. She had also watched as he expertly removed his gloves in a way that left his hands clean and one glove covering the other. Now that her head was working slightly better, Chloe couldn't help but notice how effortlessly he carried the body and how unscathed he seemed. It wasn't right. Any normal person would be in shock right now. Hell, she was born to do this and even she wasn't as comfortable being _near_ a corpse as he had been moving it. Warning bells blared in her head, telling her to be tread carefully as he crouched down on the floor and pocketed something she couldn't see before turning around to stare at her.

"You're bleeding."

Chloe blinked as she carefully placed her necklace in her pocket. "I'm not—"

"You're bleeding," Derek repeated as he started to walk towards her, but stopped after a step as his head whipped around. Cursing under his breath, he tugged his scarf from around his neck and tossed it at Chloe. "Put this on and move. Now. Someone's coming."

"But what about…" Chloe trailed off as she twisted the scarf in her hands and looked at the body. "We can't just leave him here."

Derek looked at her a moment with no expression before he spoke. "It's been taken care of it."

"What do you—"

"It's been taken care of it," he cut her off firmly. "Put the scarf on and follow me."

Chloe quickly tied the scarf around her neck, zipping up her jacket over the material as Derek quickly turned and went deeper into now dark alleyway. _Great, into the dark with someone who has no qualms with dead bodies. At least, ones that aren't reanimated._ She scurried after him, letting out a breath as she overstepped and ran into his back. He didn't seem to notice, moving quickly through the dark alley. After a moment of hesitation, she lightly caught hold of the back of his jacket in efforts to not lose sight of him as he started making turns that Chloe hadn't even realized were there. A few minutes later, they emerged at the end of the block beside a coffee shop that she realized was about a block away from the movie theatre. Derek tossed his gloves in the nearest trash can before turning her around, urging them the opposite direction of the movie theatre and in the direction of where he had parked earlier.

"Where are the others?" Chloe asked suddenly, looking at the car suspiciously. "And how did you find me?"

Derek ignored her, leaving her beside the passenger door as he looped around the car to the driver's side. Giving her a look that screamed, 'Get in the car', he ducked into the driver's seat and closed the door firmly. Exasperated, Chloe followed his lead and slipped into the passenger seat and waited for him to respond. He didn't. Instead he simply started the car and pulled out, driving around the block. Chloe watched as they passed the movie theatre slowly and noticed that there was a crowd in front of the entrance of the alleyway. _Oh no._

Derek glanced over at her but remained silent as he kept driving, pulling up along the sidewalk a few blocks away from the theatre before turning to her. "We can't talk about this right now. You're being watched. Meet me in my room after dinner. Simon will be out until curfew. If anyone asks, we're working on the English project."

Chloe didn't get a chance to respond before the back door opened and the rest of the group filed into the back of the truck. She startled, head whipping around to look at the people who were chattering around in the back rather than the male sitting beside her. It seemed almost strange, after the mood of supreme foreboding to have it broken by Liz's laughter and Tori's stark remarks to Simon as the car door closed behind them.

"You found her!" Liz exclaimed as her eyes locked on Chloe after they had settled into the car. "Where'd you go?"

"Got lost," Chloe answered a little too quickly and she cleared her throat awkwardly. She needed to think of a lie, something that would end the conversation. She knew just what to say. "I, uh, got hit with a couple of memories from when my mum and I used to go to the theatre and needed a breather. Ending up walking in circles around the block and getting lost."

Chloe watched a look of sadness passed over Liz and Tori's, who had still looked slightly miffed, faces. She noticed that Simon's eyes held a hint of confusion but he didn't press the subject, which she appreciated. Just because she had used her mother as an excuse, she wasn't sure it was something that she could really talk about. The thought of it brought a lump to her throat and Chloe turned back around, leaning against the passenger window as the air in the car hung with the heaviness of her words. _Always an effective conversation stopper,_ she thought glumly as Derek silently pulled away from the curb and headed back to school.

The ride back up felt longer than the ride down had been. Maybe because of the silence or because Chloe ended up staring out the window for the majority of the drive back. Everybody left her alone and she supposed that was because of her lie earlier. She had seen the look on Simon's face after, a mixture of curiosity and pity. He probably assumed that her mother had left or something just as sappy. If it had only been that simple. Chloe let her mind drift through the memories of her mum that she still had fresh in her brain as the trees blurred by her eyes. Maybe she would pay her mum a visit next time she went into town… maybe. The car pulled into the courtyard and everyone filed out except for Derek, who was staring at his phone as his fingers tapped impatiently against the wheel. Chloe frowned as he pulled away and headed down another path that she didn't recognize.

"Parking structure," Simon said suddenly from behind her and Chloe jumped, spinning around. His eyes widened and he held up his hands. "Hey, didn't mean to startle you. You just looked confused. It's got an entrance to the school somewhere or another."

Chloe relaxed slightly and smiled at him. "I spook easily. Let's get some food and you can explain how you know where to go in this castle you call a school."

"Only a castle would be good enough for a princess like you," he replied smoothly with a grin. Chloe felt her cheeks color as blood rushed to her face and he laughed. "Come on, I'll show you all the short cuts you need to know, don't you worry."

Walking together, they talked about comics and movies. By the time food was involved, they had strayed far past those topics and were onto the general things in life, things which she wouldn't have given a second thought if they hadn't just been brought up. Like how Simon hated math with a burning passion, or that his mother was actually Swedish and that's why he had his golden spikes, not because he died his hair. With Simon, everything just felt so relaxed and chatting with him seemed to be the easiest thing ever. At one point, Chloe had felt eyes on her and she looked up to see Amber glaring at her from where she sat in the middle of a group of guys who were all keening for her attention. Frowning, Chloe tried to brush off the feeling as she uneasily answered one of Simon's questions.

"All right, we better get going," Simon said finally as he picked up his tray. Derek did the same and Chloe flicked her eyes up to his for a moment before switching back to Simon. "I'll see you guys later. Bye, Princess."

Simon winked at her and Chloe flushed slightly, rolling her eyes at him. She was starting to realize that Simon was definitely a playful flirt. "Bye, Simon. Bye, Derek."

Simon grinned but Derek simply ignored her, nodding slightly at Liz and Tori before retreating with his tray. Blowing out a breath, Chloe looked up to see both girls staring at her with the same look of concentration. "Okay, what?"

"Where did you get that scarf?" Tori asked. Chloe looked down at it and mentally swore. She had taken her jacket off a while ago and it was now on full display. "You weren't wearing one today."

Chloe blinked. "Derek gave it to me when he found me. Said I was turning blue."

Tori and Liz frowned at each other but accepted it before they switched to another topic. Chloe breathed a soft sigh of relief as she joined in on a light conversation about shoes. She didn't like lying to Liz and Tori. They were her friends, the only people her age that she had known from birth. Even after they hadn't seen each other for almost ten years, they acted like she had never left and treated her like she was family. It made Chloe's insides twist to think that she was lying to people she considered family, but the last time she had told her family the truth, she was put into a mental institution. Somewhere that she was _never_ going back to.

They left not too long after, chatting lightly as they made their way to the dorm. But when Liz asked her if she wanted to join them until curfew, Chloe shook her head. "I'm going to go talk to Derek about the English project before I hit the hay. Thanks, though."

Liz nodded understandingly but Tori had given her a strange look and Chloe could tell that she didn't quite believe her. Quickly heading up the stairs, she made her way to the boys' room, pausing for a moment before knocking on the door. From behind the door, she could hear the shower running and a muffled shout before the door swung open to reveal a disheveled Simon. Grinning, he leaned against the door as he looked at her. "Hey, what's up?"

"Uh, I-I was supposed to meet up with Derek to work on our English project?" Chloe said slightly uncertainly and Simon's eyes brightened with recognition. "Unless it's a bad—"

"No, no!" he hurried, waving her into the room. "Come in."

Chloe stepped in and looked around. It was like any other bed room she had seen before but it was also very different. There room was a bit bigger than hers, but it held two different beds and there almost a physical line drawn across the middle. On one side, that she assumed belonged to Simon, there was a scattered group of comic books and drawing utensils littering the bed as well as the desk that was on that side of the room. Littering the walls were what looked to be like pages that had been ripped out of the comics books, but with a little bit of a closer inspection, Chloe realized that they were all hand drawn and _really_ good. The other side of the room was a polar opposite to the first side. The walls were bare and the bed was neatly made with everything folded where they needed to be. The room held two distinct personalities and it was interesting that Derek's outside demeanor extended to his way of living as well. _Never gives much away_. A glance at the desk on Derek's side of the room showed a pile of textbooks neatly placed in a pile at the corner. But they didn't look like any textbooks that she had ever seen.

"See anything interesting?" Simon asked, pulling her from her thoughts. Chloe smiled as she swung her head back around to look at him. "You seemed really focused for a second there."

"Just looking at your drawings," Chloe commented as she walked closer to his wall. Her eyes roved over the pictures, drinking in the details until she got to one of a black wolf with bright green eyes. "You're really good. These are amazing. You must ace art."

"I don't know about amazing, but they get the job done." He moved to clear the drawing materials off of his bed and into a mesh pencil case. "And definitely not acing art. I don't know if you've met the art teacher but let's just say we don't see eye to eye. But then again, I'm a smart ass that uses the techniques from class in my own comics and hands those in."

Chloe's eyebrows rose and she tried to fight a smile. "So you're telling me that you like to be a smart ass? I would have never guessed."

"Haha," he mocked and rolled his eyes at her. "Anyway, I'm an average student all around, with the exception of science, because ew. But if you're looking for a genius, Derek is your guy. Check it out."

Chloe's eyebrows rose in question and Simon waved her towards the books on Derek's desk. Chloe walked over to examine the title of the first book and felt her jaw drop. _AP Calculus AB & BC. _And she had thought Algebra was hard. Against her better judgement, she opened the book and flipped through some pages. In what she could see, she saw things that she didn't understand with shapes, lines, and letters that she hadn't even known were a possibility in math. Grimacing, she shut the book with a headache pushing at the edges of her temples. "If Derek can understand that, he's a bloody genius."

"He is," Simon said gravely and it was the most serious that Chloe had seen him since the library. _Yeah, back when you thought they were serial killers._ She turned to look at Simon, finding him shrugging on his jacket as he gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I was just heading out. I promised I'd help my friend, Nate, with something for his film studies class. Hey, you should tag along next time. I bet you guys would have so much in common with the whole film knowledge."

Chloe smiled. "Maybe."

Throwing her a wink, he rushed to the bathroom door as pushed it open, revealing steam as a warm gush of air entering the room. "D, I'm out! Chloe's here."

Chloe didn't hear a response before Simon shut the bathroom door and, with a quick wave to her, headed out the door. This left her alone in the room and she took the chance to look at the pictures again. She noticed that the same black wolf that Simon had drawn was in a series of drawings scattered all over the place, hovering here and there on his walls. The more Chloe saw, the more detail that she found they had. From the way that it sat to the lines Simon had put into its fur, it seemed to almost jump off the page with how lifelike it looked. She was so caught up in the pictures, she didn't hear the bathroom door open or the soft pad of feet against the floor as Derek walked up behind her.

"So what do you want to know?"

Chloe jumped, letting out a squeak as she whirled around to face Derek. He had a towel hung around his neck but had, thankfully, put on clothes in the washroom so he was standing in front of her in plaid pajama pants and a white tee shirt that was sticking to his apparently wet body. Blinking at him, she looked away with her cheeks blaring red. "Do you have to sneak up on me every time?"

"I didn't sneak," he stated as he rubbed the towel into his hair and moved to sit down on his bed. "I walked out of the washroom and walked up behind you."

"Well, you should announce yourself or something if you're going to be so quiet," Chloe pointed out and Derek gave her a strange look. "Don't give me that look! All I'm saying is that maybe you should give people a warning. Scrape a chair, shuffle your feet, announce yourself, I don't know just something."

Derek stared at her as if she were crazy and Chloe stared back. With him sitting on the bed and Chloe standing, they were almost the same height. Derek was still a little taller than her and that was probably because he was easily over six feet while she was barely over five feet. "You want me to announce myself… in my own room."

"Yes." The answer came out automatically and Chloe realized just how stupid what she said actually was. Clearing her throat, she tried to pull the conversation to something that didn't make her sound like an idiot. He had asked what she wanted to know. "You know what I am."

"Yes."

Okay, at least they were starting off with honesty. "How?"

"I saw you talking to a ghost in the library the day I gave you that book." At the mention of the book he made a face and Chloe flushed, shuffling her feet slightly. Now that she knew that he was a certified genius in math, she felt even stupider having him find that book. "I knew you weren't crazy because crazy people don't go off to secluded places to talk to voices in their head. They think it's normal and if you were schizophrenic, you wouldn't realize the voices you were talking to weren't real."

Chloe nodded slowly. That was true. She had been around a few and she knew from experience, when they started talking, they didn't care who was around to see them. "Fair enough, I guess."

"I also know about your little eavesdropping," Derek added as he reached under his bed. Chloe froze, eyes following the movements as her heart rate sped up. He paused, looking up at her with probing green eyes. "Calm down before you have a heart attack. I don't care that you overheard. Actually, it made things easier."

"Easier as in how?" she asked cautiously, watching as Derek pulled out a laptop from under his bed and letting out a breath of release. "I don't understand."

"Obviously not, or you would be asking the right questions." This was a statement, but she couldn't help but find it frustrating in how matter of fact he sounded. "It's easier because there is no pretense of 'what if they think I'm crazy' hanging in the air. It's better. Anymore questions?"

"How did you find me in the alleyway? I was completely out of sight from the entrance."

"You screamed. Very loudly."

"Apparently not because no one else heard me, so how did you?"

A pause. "I have better hearing than most."

Chloe frowned. "Like enhanced hearing?"

"Exactly like that." When he didn't say anymore, Chloe sat down on Simon's bed across from him and folded her arms. Derek sighed. "Basically, I'm all around enhanced. Speed, hearing, strength, the whole thing. That's how I heard you eavesdropping in the library and screaming in the alleyway."

Chloe felt her jaw drop open and she stared at him. "So you're like… Captain America on crack?"

Derek blinked at her, this time being the one who looked confused. "Who?"

"You live with a comic book collector, and artist, and you don't know who Captain America is?" Chloe balked at him. Derek shook his head, looking slightly annoyed by the reference. "Remind me to introduce you to something called Marvel."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that." Derek's tone was dry and it dripped with sarcasm, something that tugged one of the corners of Chloe's lips up. "Back to things that are actually relevant—"

"That was totally a relevant reference to anyone who grew up in our generation!"

"You seem to know how to use your powers and you seem to be strong," Derek continued as if she had never spoken. "How long have you had your powers?"

"A year and a half I think? Since I got my—" Chloe cut off with a flush and stared at her hands for a moment. _Way to go, Chloe. Go on and tell the boy about how you got your period the same day you saw your first ghost_. "About a year and a half."

"Late bloomer," he muttered and Chloe glanced up at him. He was staring at her with a look of fierce concentration. "That doesn't make sense."

"Huh?"

"You're far too strong for a necromancer who is still in the baby stages of her power awakening. You managed to accidentally summon and then release a ghost without much difficulty. Do you know how many necromancers are able to do that in the first two years of their power development?" Chloe shook her head, frowning as she thought back to what she read in the book. "None."

"Oh," she breathed, tugging on the scarf around her neck absently. "How do you know so much about my kind?"

Derek shrugged, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he placed the laptop on his bed. "I don't. I know the basics. You're pretty rare for a supernatural race, there isn't much about you."

"What do you mean? I thought there weren't much Supernaturals in general."

"There are many more Supernaturals than you think. But necromancers, and a few other kinds, are rare to come by," Derek explained in such a factual manner that she felt as though she were reading a textbook. "Sorcerers, half-demons, even witches are more likely to come by than a necromancer. Hell, almost everything is more common than a necromancer, even my kind."

"And what is your kind? And Simon's kind?" Derek looked up sharply at the mention of Simon and Chloe nervously fiddled with the scarf. "I know that you're not the only one who's like me. Tori and Liz are too, aren't they?"

Derek didn't respond and Chloe huffed, crossing her arms again. This was supposed to a conversation but that only worked if she kept him talking. These people were his family and she knew that he didn't want to rat them out, but she needed to know. "Simon is a sorcerer. Tori is a witch."

Chloe's eyes widened as she looked at him. Derek stared back at her, gauging her responses to what he was saying. Chloe wasn't sure what he would see because what he said was a surprise to her. Simon she hadn't been expecting. She couldn't remember him doing anything out of the ordinary. He seemed so regular that she couldn't even fathom that he was a sorcerer. From what _Necromancia_ said about sorcerers, they weren't the friendliest of sorts. They looked down upon all other supernaturals that weren't the same race. Simon seemed so nice and carefree and just all around loving. Knowing that he could cast spells sent her inner Harry Potter fan into overdrive for a moment because that was so _cool_. Tori, on the other hand, she could believe was a witch. Not from her attitude but from what she remembered noticing. As a child, she had remembered how scared she had been once when Tori had thrown a tantrum and Chloe had seen sparks fly from her fingers. Over the years, whenever her brain travelled back to those days, Chloe had convinced herself that she had just been seeing things. But when Chloe had spilled popcorn on her earlier today, she had sworn that she had seen Tori's fingertips spark blue for a moment. It was so strange to image her friends with powers.

"O-Okay, and Liz?"

"Volvo half-demon," Derek said quietly and Chloe thought her eyes were going to fly out of her head. _That's the same kind of demon Mila is_. "Telekin—"

"Telekinetic, I know."

Derek frowned, staring at her for a moment. "How much do you know about the races?"

"Next to nothing," Chloe admitted. "Are there more?"

A look passed over his face. "Many."

Chloe frowned, staring at him for a moment before she thought of something else she wanted to ask. "So do you know?"

"Know what exactly?"

"About how this school is spitting out dead supernaturals," Chloe rushed out before she could lose her nerve. Taking a deep breath, she looked at him to see his reaction. But being Derek, he looked back at her as stoic as ever. "There's been a dead kid every—"

"Yes, I know," Derek interrupted as he ran a hand through his wet hair. Chloe's eyes followed the movement. "That's why we're so interested in you. You're a target."

Chloe gulped, feeling her heartbeat in her throat. She had hoped that this wasn't true but it seemed as if everything was against her. "I know."

"But do you know why? Do you know what you're apart of?" he asked with searching eyes and Chloe swallowed hard, shaking her head. "You want to know how I really found out what you are? Because I know what this school, what this town, really is for and it's not something we want to be a part of."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chloe asked as she shrugged off her jacket. She was getting hot now, whether it was from the residual heat from the washroom or from their conversation she didn't know. She untied the scarf from around her neck as well, placing it on top of her jacket as she shrugged off her sweater. "You're not making any sense."

Derek opened his mouth to continue when his eyes shifted away from her face and he paled. Eyes widened, Chloe tried to follow his gaze but found it to be aimed just under her chin and she realized that he was staring at her neck. She had all but forgotten about the little nicks that the drugged up girl had left on her neck, not even feeling the sting of the cuts as she had passed through the rest of the day. But from the look on Derek's face, it wasn't good. Jumping up, Chloe sped to the washroom to look in the mirror and what she saw was surprising to say the least. Her neck was covered in blood, dried and crusted in the wounds. It had spread over her neck and little bits splattered over the top of her white tee shirt, making Chloe glad that she hadn't taken the scarf or the sweater off during dinner. It would have been a lot harder to explain if she had been with Liz and Tori.

"You need to wash it off and clean it so it doesn't get infected," Derek said and Chloe jumped at the sound of his voice beside her. She turned to glare at him where he was standing in the bathroom door. "Oh, I forgot. I'm in the doorway."

Chloe wished that she could intensify the glare that she was giving him as she tried to examine her neck closer. The line on her neck was thin enough that she wasn't really able to see it other than slight discoloring around the edges. It looked like a paper cut on her neck. Then there was the neck on her jugular. Twisting her head to get a better look at it, she saw that there wasn't much of anything there. If she were male, it would look like she had cut herself shaving. Being a girl, however, she wasn't sure how she could explain these cuts. She would have to figure something out before she saw everyone tomorrow. She couldn't just wear a scarf forever. First thing was first though. She needed to get this shirt off and clean those cuts off.

"Get out," Chloe said as she made a motion to push him out of the door. Derek remained motionless and she placed her hands on her hips. "Derek, I need to clean the cuts. Doing so involves me removing my shirt since I'm not about going places in a wet tee. So unless you want to see my lack of a chest, you need to get out. Actually, it doesn't matter if you want to or not. You need to get out."

At Chloe's words, she watched as there was a slight brush of pink at the top of his ears but otherwise kept his face straight. "Right."

He pulled the door closed behind him and Chloe smiled to herself. Pulling off her tee shirt, she looked at herself in the mirror. Though she didn't have a lot in the chest area, she definitely had a lot more than she did when she was younger. When she had started out high school, Chloe was a solid double A. Now she couldn't complain. She was still small but she was starting to grow out of her B cup, which made her kind of happy. Quickly, she worked on wiping the remaining blood off of her neck and washing out the cuts. It wasn't unpleasant, though she felt a bit of discomfort after she had finished cleaning off the caked on blood and moved her neck.

"Great, I'm going to be stiff in the morning," she muttered as she tugged her shirt over her head and patted her neck down. Pulling open the door, she looked around to find Derek focused on his laptop screen. "What's really going on at this school?"

Derek didn't look up. "Do you know who funds this school?"

Chloe paused, wracking her head for a name. "Some charity group from the town. Uh, the St. Cloud Association, right?"

Derek looked up in surprise. "You know about the St. Cloud's?"

"Not in depth or anything," she replied, sitting down on Simon's bed again. "What do they have to do with anything?"

Derek sighed, shutting his laptop as he turned his green eyes on her. For a moment she was caught in the swirl of green and Chloe found herself feeling like she was at the end of a microscope being examined as Derek's eyes stared into her soul. _If the eyes are a window to the soul, Derek has a beautiful one._ The thought popped up suddenly in her head and in surprise, Chloe managed to rip her eyes away from Derek's probing gaze to hide a blush. _Where did_ that _come from?_ Looking back at Derek, she watched him nod before he let out a deep breath. "The St. Cloud Association has been conducting experiments on different kinds for the past few decades. They wanted all of the power with none of the side effects. All of the abilities with none of the weaknesses. They wanted to be able to have a weapon of mass destruction without anyone knowing about it. Many, if not all, over the first few decades failed. At least, they all did until Dr. Banks was introduced to the project twenty-five years ago. Somehow, he managed to change the DNA of races so that he minimized the side effects of excessive power on a body. That's where we came in."

Chloe didn't want to ask the question but she needed to know the answer. "What do they have to do with us?"

"We're the experiments," Derek said slowly as he stared at her. He was probably trying to gage if she was freaking out or not, but Chloe wasn't really processing any of this properly yet. "The first real group of successful subjects were a group of children who were born into the project. Dr. Banks managed to enhance our powers without enhancing the problems that came with them for most of us. For the ones who showed signs of being out of control, they were terminated before they were born. Us? Well, they couldn't quite tell if we were successes or failures until our powers emerged, now could they? So they let us out to live our lives, leaving with our families even as they watched us. There are more missing people than you know. They're collecting us back and those of us who have uncontrollable powers are being terminated. Those who aren't just disappear without a trace. There are only a handful of us left and most don't even know that they were part of the experiment, let alone that they're being tracked and hunted like animals."

Derek seemed to spit out the last word with venom and Chloe felt her heart rate pick up. "B-but they can't just take us! People will… they'll ask questions! And they'll notice children missing! Our parents—"

"Our parents are the reason that we were a part of this experiment," Derek cut in dryly and Chloe gaped. "How else would they have experimented on us when we were in our mother's stomach? Why do you think we all ended up at _this_ school? One—or both—of your parents went here, right?"

Chloe wanted to say coincidence but she couldn't get the words out of her mouth. She couldn't believe it and turned accusatory eyes on Derek. "Well, how do you know so much about this? You're only a year older than I am and if what you're saying is true, then you wouldn't have known about the experiments either."

"I know because I was raised in the lab we were experimented in. My father—Simon's father helped break me out." A look of darkness crossed his face as he remembered something and he scowled. "A few years ago, they found us and we were sent here. So Dad made a plan to take it down from the inside. Except that Dad hasn't been in contact in almost a month."

Chloe struggled to process everything that Derek was telling her. "I don't understand. Why are you still here? Why not just leave if you know so much? Aren't you a target too?"

"Because we're going to bring them down but we've been missing a crucial part of the plan until a few weeks ago. Without it, we didn't have a hope of taking them down, but now we do."

"And what is that crucial part?"

"You."

* * *

 **Well there you have it. Chloe has been told the truth... or at least some of it. Where will they go from here?**

 **R & R, if you please. I worked from like 10 pm to 7 am to finish this last night xD It was just a lot of words and I only slept for a couple of hours. This was a hefty chapter, around 5900 words without the author's notes. Here's hoping you like it - Brii**


	9. Joining the Team

**A/N: Happy 2017! It's been a while but this is the new chapter. I'm going to skip the whole review reply thing for a while, just because I'm super swamped. But I still wanna give a shout out to all the reviewers who took time out of their day to read and review my work.** **JDrummond, Zane S. White, SME13, HetaliaGirl -21, xxstarcrystalxx, Rephiamluvers123, Barayah, Guest, and Huntsman-in-the-snow. That's right, I'm talking about you guys! You're the best of the best. Your comments make my day. That doesn't mean I don't still love my non-reviewers, cause I love y'all too!**

 **I have a tendency to babble so here is the next chapter. And so we begin.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Joining the Team**

"You're joking."

Chloe knew that she probably looked ridiculous, with eyes the size of saucers and her mouth gaping open. She probably resembled a fish out of water gasping for air. On any other occasion, she would have probably laughed at herself. But this wasn't one of those times. Right now, what she had heard was more ridiculous than any face that she could make, and there were some crazy ones. But nothing compared to the insanity Derek was telling her right now because there was _no way_ he was being serious.

"You're joking," Chloe repeated as Derek continued to stare back at her. "You're pulling my leg, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Derek asked blandly.

"No."

Derek's eyebrows rose slightly. Apparently that had been a rhetorical question. Chloe couldn't bring herself to care though, even as he continued speaking. "This is serious. People like us are disappearing and being killed. Without your help, we won't be able to stop them."

Chloe blinked at him. It was the only thing that she was capable of doing. "This is serious."

"Yes, this is serious." Derek sounded exasperated and he raked his hand through his hair rather aggressively before he continued speaking. "What do you think they would do with a necromancer who can't control her powers?"

Chloe felt a rush of cold go through her. A necromancer who couldn't control her powers. Images of undead armies coming back to life filled her head and her heart felt like it was plummeting to through the floor. "Why is this happening? Can't we just… I don't know, tell the cops?"

"Yeah, that's always my first thought. Call the human cops. Make sure to tell them about how you're able to see dead people and bring them back to life." Derek's tone was cold and Chloe felt blood rush into her cheeks, mostly from indignation but faintly from embarrassment. She knew how people reacted to the truth. "They can't do anything to help. You should know that already. It's up to us to fix this. And we need your help."

Chloe frowned, his words playing over in her head for a moment before she answered. "What do you mean?"

"What?"

"You said 'I should know'," Chloe said again, his words going through her head. "What do you mean?"

Derek's frowned as his brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before his eyes flashed with recognition. "That's not important."

"I think I can decide what information is and isn't important." Derek stared at her hard and Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Look, I've believed everything you've told me so far, despite how insane it sounds, because somehow I know it's the truth. But you're holding something back and if I'm going to go into this on pure faith that you're telling me the truth, I'm going to need you to tell me."

When Derek just stared back at her, Chloe grabbed her jacket and stood up, tossing his scarf back at him. Catching it, Derek watched her put on her jacket with a scowl. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my room," Chloe said simply. "This whole leap of faith deal—me being here and actually considering being part of whatever rebellion you're plotting. I'm not going to stay when it's obvious that you're holding back information from me."

Silence followed her words and Chloe sighed, turning as she headed for the door. It wasn't until her hand was on the knob that he spoke and his words left her frozen. "I know what happened in Buffalo."

Chloe's hand clenched into a fist around the knob as a flash of anxiety flew through her, followed quickly by one of anger. "How in the f—"

"It was in your file," Derek cut in, sounding almost exasperated with the topic. "After hearing you in the library, I wasn't going to take the chance of being wrong and checked the school records for evidence of powers. All supernaturals have some kind of record, even if it's a small one, from using their powers. It's an easy pattern to recognize, if you know what to look for. So when I found that on your record, I knew."

Chloe turned slowly to face him, eyes flashing as she looked at him. "You read my file?"

"Obviously. I just said that."

Chloe felt her blood boil at the response but no words would come out as she stared down the dark-haired boy sitting in front of her. _Obviously._ The word sent a chill down her spine and the thought of someone knowing what happened in Buffalo. In her pocket, she felt the stone her mother had given her like a weight in her pocket the angrier she got. "And obviously, you don't understand the definition of privacy. That was none of your business."

"It's my business when it comes to someone I don't know who gets cozied up to my family," Derek snapped back at her with a surprising amount of force that rocked Chloe. "First Liz and Tori, then Simon? If you weren't one of us, you were one of them. I had to make sure. I needed to know."

"Well, you know everything about me now, don't you, Derek?" Chloe snapped back. And that's when she felt it. The energy crackling in the room that seemed to be surging through her at an alarming rate. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her temper under control as she slid her shaking hands into pockets, fingers instantly finding the pendent in her pocket. "I'm going back to my room. I need sleep and I really don't need this."

Chloe didn't wait for a response, opening the door and closing it forcefully behind her to show that she was over this conversation. Walking over to her room, she kept replaying the end of their conversation over in her head. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. By the time she had carefully shut the door to her bedroom, she could feel the anger that had been flitting at the edges of her consciousness boiling over. She just couldn't understand how he could be so casual with information like that. Not just casual, careless. It was as if he didn't care about anything that he had said to her and, more importantly, that he didn't see the reason that she would be upset about it. How could she not be mad that he had gone through her personal files? She could come up with an actual list of how wrong he was. _Guess it wasn't exactly_ obvious _to the genius_ , Chloe thought in irritation as she shrugged off her jacket and tossed it carelessly in the direction of her bed.

"Oi!"

Chloe jumped, spinning around to see a very irritated looking Mila sitting on herbed, her body disappearing into the jacket that had been discarded so carelessly a moment ago. Feeling a spike of irritation zing through her, Chloe shot a glare in the ghost's direction as she tried to calm her stuttering heart. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We said we'd meet up later to see if we missed anything last night," Mila said as she haltingly pushed the jacket out of her. Blowing out a frustrated breath, she gave Chloe an irritated look and gestured down at herself. "You mind giving me a hand with this?"

Chloe rolled her eyes as she walked over and carefully pulled the jacket out of Mila's stomach, suppressing a shiver. No matter how many ghosts she saw walk through things, she would never get over how creepy it was. "Mila, I'm not really in the mood—"

"Where the hell have you been?" Mila interrupted as she jumped up. Chloe merely looked up at her warily and Mila's eyes widened. "What the hell happened to your neck?"

Chloe sighed and quickly recapped what had happened over the day. She considered filtering the information she was giving Mila, but with thought better of it. The only person that could even hear her was Chloe, so there wasn't really a point. At the end, she found herself squirming under Mila's scrutiny. "Anyway, you can see why I'm not in the mood—"

"I don't know what happened to you, but you have some serious trust issues. Either that or you're just plain stupid."

Chloe immediately puffed up at the accusation and settled Mila with a glare. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't—"

"Yes, you do."

"I don't!" Chloe snapped and she felt a surged of anger burst through her. Mila's eyes widened but she didn't back down. "I have a right to be pissed off that someone has been snooping around my private files to—"

"Figure out if you're a danger or not? Or, better yet, if you're _in_ danger or not? Wow, what a bad guy." Mila's sarcasm wasn't lost on Chloe and she felt her face turning red with rage and embarrassment. "There must be something absolutely wrong with him for doing his homework and checking facts."

"He could have just asked me!"

"What reason would he have to believe anything you said?" Chloe opened her mouth to answer and found that she had nothing to say. She didn't have a reason. Mila saw her pause and swooped on it. "Whatever they did to you back in Buffalo really fucked you up, because as soon as someone mentions the word, you all but sprint the other way. And don't try to deny it."

"Aren't we all entitled to our own secrets?" Chloe muttered angrily as she walked away from Mila into the washroom. "Derek isn't exactly an open book either and you don't see me snooping in his personal business."

"So this isn't about him nosing around in your information but because you can't do the same to him?"

Chloe gave Mila a sharp look. "It's _about_ how he knows everything about me and I know nothing about him."

"He doesn't know shit about you. He knows whatever the school knows about you. Why is that such a bad thing?"

Chloe turned the tap on, keeping her gaze averted. _Because that's not the full story_ , she thought desperately. But saying that would mean telling Mila the story, the full story, and she wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready to open that wound and she knew that Mila wouldn't let up until she knew. So instead, Chloe did what she did best whenever anyone brought up Buffalo. She changed the subject. "Since when are you on Derek's side?"

"Since I found out that he's trying to help and you're being too much of a brat to notice." Chloe was about to fire back her annoyance when she noticed that the tap was shaking beneath her hand as she turned it off. Frowning, her eyes drifted up to the mirror that seemed to be trembling in front of her eyes and the sound of the taps in shower trembling as the pipes made a strained sound. A glance at Mila told her that the ghost didn't seem to notice, too busy glaring. _Telekinetic demon ghost,_ Chloe reminded herself suddenly. _She's a poltergeist in the making and I pissed her off_. She waited warily as the ghost continued her rant. "Everything you've told me so far has made me come to the conclusion that Derek not only isn't trying to kill you, but that he's trying to keep you _alive_. And you're pissed because he did what? Looked through your personal file? Nothing that happened in Buffalo could matter so much that you would turn down someone who is trying to help you not _die_!"

The word was punctuated with a crash from the other room. Chloe jumped, running past Mila to look for the source of the crash. Nothing was broken, but her suitcase was lying on the ground where it had somehow tipped over and spilled all the remaining contents in it onto the floor. Pursing her lips, she turned back to look at Mila standing in the doorway and gestured to the washroom. "Mila… are you doing this?"

Mila's eyes flashed to the bag before she turned around quickly, staring presumably at the still rattling sinks. The rattle came to an abrupt stop all at once and Mila turned around almost sheepishly back at Chloe. "Sorry, I… it's been harder to control since… well, since I died."

Something Derek had said popped into Chloe's head and she peered at Mila. "You couldn't control your powers."

"Of course I—"

"Before you died, your powers had started to get out of control, didn't they?" Mila's jaw flexed and Chloe frowned as the rumbling started again. "When you said you were strong, that you were trained, you meant that sometimes you were too strong. You were starting to lose control."

Mila sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sort of. I don't know. I would have times when my temper would get away from me and some stuff would fly or things started shaking. It wasn't like it happened all the time."

"But that might be the reason that you were a target." Chloe pulled her laptop from under her bed and opened up the notes she had made last night. "We were so focused on the attacker that we didn't look at the similarities between the victims. Derek said everyone who died was—damn, what was the word he'd said? Right—uncontrollable. I think if we asked Peter and Brady, they'll say that they had the same deal."

Mila paused, seeming to think it over as her frown deepened. "If that's the truth, then we need to get into the student files."

Chloe felt as though her eyes were going to pop out of her head. "Why the hell would we need to do that?"

"If the school is involved in this, then they have information that we need that would be in our files." Chloe shifted uncomfortably and Mila kept talking. "We need to see for sure. I have a feeling that those are going to come in handy if you want to figure out what's really going on at this school."

Chloe didn't respond immediately, thinking over all the information she had gathered today. It was a lot. From finding out her friends weren't serial killers to finding out that she was a science experiment gone wrong, she felt as if she had aged ten years. But there was one thing that was really nagging her. "We'll talk in the morning. I need to rest."

It wasn't a lie. The entire day was starting to really weigh on her and she needed to sleep. Mila nodded slowly, eyeing Chloe carefully for a moment before disappearing and leaving her with only her thoughts. As she robotically went through her bed time routine, the nagging sensation in her built until it felt like a weight in her chest, dragging her down to the depths of her thoughts in an attempt to figure out what it was about. She just couldn't push the feeling that something was missing something. There was some part of this puzzle that didn't make any sense. Pieces were clicking together from Derek's explanation but she knew there was still information that she didn't know. And she wasn't sure that she wanted to know. That night, she had dreams of being chased around a laboratory by a batch of scientist with scalpels, only waking up when they caught her and started to dissect her like a frog. After that, she fell into a restless, exhausted sleep.

When morning finally came around it took Chloe a while to wake up but the moment she did, everything about the previous day rushed back to her. Touching her neck, she felt the sensitive skin at her neck. She had been right with her first assumption. It was no deeper than a paper cut, but it stung just as badly. She came to the same conclusion as she touched the other cut on her neck. _I'd probably look like Frankenstein if she'd pushed any harder,_ Chloe thought as she pulled herself up and out of the bed. The more awake she got, the clearer the memories from last night became and with those memories came a reminder of a dark-haired boy with bright green eyes. The thought of Derek sparked an ember of anger at the reminder that he _knew_. But after a night full of nightmares and sharp thing cutting into her, she found that the ember was all that remained of her earlier anger. Though she was still irritated about him going through her personal records and finding out about Buffalo, there wasn't much that she could do about it now. All she could really do was wait for rumors to spread and wait for her Aunt Lauren to send her away again. Chloe felt a sort of resignation flow through her at the thought as well as a bit of sadness. She was starting to like it here, even if for the past week of feeling like she was being hunted. She was really starting to enjoy having friends again.

A rapid series of knocks on the door brought Chloe out of her thoughts. A moment later, she swung open the door to reveal three people she didn't expect to see so early on a Sunday morning. Tori, Simon, and Liz all wore similar looks of wariness on their faces and Chloe couldn't help but feel outnumbered. "Uh…

"We need to talk to you," Liz half-whispered as she looked around the deserted hallway. Chloe quirked an eyebrow at the blonde haired girl. "Can we come in? Please?"

Chloe shifted out of the way and gestured for the group to come inside. After a bit of shuffling, she closed the door behind them and leaned her back against it as she faced them. Tori went to lie down on her bed while Liz sat perched on the edge as Simon hovered beside them. "What's up, guys?"

"Derek said he fucked up," Tori said with no preamble and Simon shot her a look to which she gave him one of her own. "What? He _did_ say it."

"You couldn't have at least tried to ease into that?" Simon snapped and Tori rolled her eyes. "What she's trying to say is that Derek told us what happened last night and that you guys didn't leave on the best terms."

Chloe felt her back stiffen slightly. "Oh, did he?"

"Oh, I knew she'd still be mad!" Liz said as her face fell. "We didn't mean to hide from you, we were just making sure we didn't scare you off."

 _Wait, what? What did she mean, scare me off?_ Chloe was about to ask when Simon cut her off. "We know it's a lot to spring on you, but we were just making sure that we were okay. I mean, we didn't want to hide who we were from you, we just didn't want you to—"

"Okay, hold on, what?" Chloe cut in with a frown. "I have no idea what you're talking about. What were you hiding?"

Simon frowned, glancing over at the girls. "We thought you were mad because we didn't tell you who were are from the get go and didn't tell you we knew who you were."

"I didn't want to, but Derek said it was safer that way," Liz rushed out and Chloe noticed that there was a faint rumbling in the walls like when Mila had gotten angered last night. _Telekinetic demons are easily triggered,_ Chloe noted. "We hated lying to you. I promise!"

Chloe shook her head. "I'm not mad at you for lying. Derek went snooping through my personal files."

"He looked through your personal files?" Simon asked, eyes lighting up in confusion. "Why would he do that?"

Chloe blinked at her friends. It seemed that Derek wasn't telling them everything either. She couldn't tell what that said about him but it did peek her curiosity. Why hadn't he told them about her files? And if he didn't tell them about her files, did that mean that he hadn't told them about what he had found in them? She had jumped to the assumption that he had told the others but if he had kept her personal files a secret then she had hope that he hadn't told them about Buffalo. _But why?_ Chloe thought as her eyes bounced from one person to the next. The all held expressions of confusion and surprise over the fact that Derek had been in her files. _Why wouldn't he keep my secret?_ The thought bounced around in the silence for a moment but no answer came. One thing had changed, however. Though she wasn't exactly enthusiastic—an understatement—that Derek knew anything about Buffalo to begin with, she felt relief from the information that he hadn't told anyone what he knew extinguish the last ember of real anger she had towards him from last night.

"It doesn't matter because I'm not mad anymore. It was more that I was shocked that he was able to get a hold of my files than anything else. Besides, it would be stupid to be mad at you for lying about your powers. It's not like I was forthcoming with the fact that I see dead people. As far as I'm concerned, we're good."

"Told you it was just Derek being an idiot," Tori grumbled and Simon shot her a glare. "So does that mean you're in?"

Chloe shifted her gaze to the ceiling as she mulled over her answer. She knew she would be safest with them and that without them, she was basically a sitting duck. They had the information and the means to end a fight she didn't even know was going on. A fight she didn't even know that she was a part of or if she wanted to be a part of. But being with them was looking like the best way not to become one of the ghosts she was always talking to. "Yeah, I'm in. But from now on, I need to be in the loop."

"Deal," they all said together.

"Great," Chloe said as she nodded to herself. Mila's request from last night popped into her head suddenly and she knew what she had to do. "Now that we're all on the same page, I'm going to need your help."

"With what?" Simon asked, brows pulling together.

"I want to break into the school records."

They all gaped at her for a moment before Simon's face broke into a wide grin and said, "I knew there was a reason I liked you. What did you have in mind?"

Twenty minutes later, Chloe was dressed and they were all in the boys' room sitting on whatever flat surface was available. Tori had commandeered the desk chair on Derek's side and was doing whatever computer thing she did with Chloe's laptop. Liz was lying on Derek's bed, light blonde hair sprayed across the pillow while Simon absently doodling into a sketchpad from where he laid on his own bed. They had already explained to Derek what their plan was, which he hadn't liked but hadn't had a choice in letting it happen since it had already started. As Tori worked, Chloe found herself watching Derek pace back and forth from where she was perched on Simon's desk, a thought hitting her suddenly.

"Thank you."

It was whispered too low for the rest of the group, but she figured that he could hear her despite how quiet she was. This was confirmed when Derek paused mid-step as his eyes immediately snapped to hers. "What?"

"Thank you," Chloe repeated quietly, eyes skimming the room to make sure that no one else was listening to their conversation. When she came to the conclusion that they were all preoccupied in their own worlds, she continued in a whisper. "I know you didn't tell them about Buffalo and I wanted to thank you for not spreading it around."

The gratefulness in her voice was affected slightly by residual irritation from finding out that he knew about Buffalo, but the meaning behind it was real. She was grateful for him keeping this from the rest of the group even though she wasn't sure why he would do that. She just knew that she was grateful that kept his mouth shut. Derek tilted his head, green eyes probing as he met her no doubt curious gaze. As their eyes locked, she felt as if he was looking not at her, but through her. It felt like his green eyes were looking into her soul in their intensity. Chloe found herself trapped in the gaze and she wasn't aware how long they stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes but she watched emotions flicker in the depths of his cloudy orbs. She saw a curiosity that reflected her own as well as a look that she couldn't classify. _What was he thinking?_

"I'm in!" Whatever trance Chloe had found herself in with Derek was instantly broken, her heart thumping hard in her chest at the sudden sound of Tori's voice as her eyes snapped to the girl. Hopping off the table, she bolted to Tori's side. The reason that they were waiting in the room was because Tori was hacking into the school system. The plan was that whatever information they couldn't find through the servers, they would go into the office and thumb through the hard copies. "Your laptop has some serious fire power, Chloe. These systems are crazy good. Who decked it out for you?"

"I know a guy," Chloe mumbled. "Did you have any problems?"

"Not really. I had to set up an extra firewall around the us to alert us if they try to back hack us. I was also able to ping your IP off a few different proxies so if they do try, they won't be able to find us if I—" Tori cut off and looked around. Chloe was sure that she wasn't the only one who looked confused. She understood most of what Tori had said, but it wasn't without a lot of inferencing. "We're safe. Now, what are we looking for exactly? There server is buggy as shit and I don't know how long I can stay undetected before they catch onto me."

"The files of Mila Saunders, Brady Hirsch, and Peter Ricci."

A few key strokes later, the screen went black before four windows popped up. Three had the names of the kids Chloe had listed off but the last one wasn't labelled at all. Liz pointed at it, frowning. "What is that?"

Tori clicked on it and it opened to a bunch of things that Chloe was sure wasn't English. Tori let out a sigh of frustration. "It's an encrypted file. But it involves all of those kids so I'm guessing it's important. But these are too small to be student files. They must only be partials for reference material. Actual school records must be paper only."

"Copy whatever is there and get off of the server," Derek rumbled, fingers drumming impatiently against his desk. "Don't stay in any longer than you need to."

"I know what I'm doing," Tori shot back as she plugged in a thumb drive and waited for the download to finish. "It's not my first time at the rodeo."

"No, the first time you did this, you got caught and nearly got us all killed."

The color rushed into Tori's cheeks and Chloe was sure that she saw a spark fly off of her finger as she flipped him off. "Bite me, Fido."

Chloe's eyebrows shot up and her eyes travelled back to Derek. His jaw clenched and the two stared each other down before Liz intervened. "Okay, guys, I know that we're all stressed but we can't turn on each other."

Derek glared down at Tori for another moment before his eyes shifted back to the laptop. _Fido?_ Chloe wandered, but her mind was pulled back to the task at hand when she heard the pinging from the laptop. "What's that?"

"That would be the school trying to back track," Tori said as she turned back to the laptop. "And I still need a little bit more time to download this last file."

Tori's hands seemed to fly across the keyboard and the beeping stopped as suddenly as it had started. Simon's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Same thing I did to your computer when you piss me off," she replied in an amused tone and Simon grimaced. "Mild virus to slow them down. Nothing too severe."

Simon snorted. "You backed up my computer for a week with gay porn, so what exactly is your definition of mild?"

Tori didn't bother responding as she smirked, watching the loading bar finally fill up before popping the file out and going back to whatever she was doing on the laptop. Chloe couldn't help but shudder. She thought everyone knew better than to piss Tori off. Simon learnt the hard way. A triumph sound drew her out of her head to see Tori smile as the screen went black.

"And that's how you hack a system," Tori said proudly as the screen switched back. A few keystrokes later, Tori let out a swear. "You guys might want to check this out."

On the screen were the folders of Mila, Brady, and Peter. They weren't very long, each only consisting of a few lines with barely any words. But the words that were there sent a chill down Chloe's spine. In the files, she saw their ages, years of birth, even their supernatural race. But under status, each one had the word deceased written in red lettering with a date and time. At the bottom of the page was a series of numbers and letters. It looked eerily like the patient ID numbers she had seen in the hospital. Wordlessly, Chloe pointed to the bottom of the screen. Everyone's eyes travelled there but no one spoke. Even though it remained silent, the room felt as if it were heavy with the words that weren't being said. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It's an identification number," Derek said shortly, confirming her earlier thoughts. "They're on all the files."

"But those look like patient IDs," Chloe said hesitantly. "Why would students need patient IDs?"

"It's so they know who was and wasn't a part of the experiment." Chloe's head swiveled over to Simon, who had answered her question gravely. "Which means they know."

"I told you."

"Derek, we don't need a 'I told you so', we need a plan," Tori snapped at him as she shut the laptop. "We might know how they're kidnapping the others, but we don't know where being taken or where the main facility it."

"Maybe I can help with that."

Chloe jumped, smacking into the brothers at the sudden sound beside her ear and started tipping backwards. Derek caught her before she could drop on her ass and she absently noticed that his hands felt like they were burning against the skin of her upper arm. Glaring at the specter that had appeared beside her, Chloe flipped Mila off. "For _fuck's_ sake, I told you to stop doing that!"

"Sorry!" Mila yelped as she gave her a lopsided smile. "I didn't mean to startle you, I thought you saw me walk in."

"I'm pretty sure if I saw you walk through a wall, I would have been just as freaked!" Chloe snapped back at her, shaking Derek's hands off. "Do you have any idea how scary that shit is? I can't—"

Chloe cut off suddenly, eyes slipping away from Mila to look at the others in the room. She had forgotten that she was the only who could see and hear Mila, meaning that to all of them, she looked as if she were talking to a random space in beside her. Now this brought back memories and so did the looks on their faces. They were all staring at her with shared looks of confusion and wariness, wondering what was wrong with her, probably. All except Derek, who had an almost expectant look in his eyes as she met his gaze. Frowning, she looked back at the ghost with clear exasperation over the situation as she gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," Mila said again, softer this time as she pushed a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "I went to your room and I didn't know where you were, so I took a chance and came here. I figured since you guys had my student files pulled up that they just knew everything."

"Warning would be appreciated next time, just saying."

"Uhm, Chloe?" Simon asked from behind Mila and Chloe's eyes met confused amber. "Who are you talking to?"

"M-Mila," Chloe stated, stuttering mainly out of fear. She was still waiting for them to call her crazy and send her off. "S-she kind of has a habit of giving me heart attacks."

"That's not hard when you're as skittish as a kitten." The comment came from Derek who had moved away now that Chloe was stable and was sitting on the edge of his bed. She shot him a glare but her merely shrugged. "I've been expecting her."

"You have?" Chloe asked incredulously and turned stunned eyes on Mila. "Why have you—"

"I heard you say her name in the library," he cut in impatiently, eyes sliding around the spot where Chloe was facing uneasily. "Hello, Mila."

"Hi, Mila!" Liz quipped after a moment with a giant smile. "I don't know if you remember me, but I remember you!"

Chloe felt herself almost sag with relief at how easily they seemed to accept the information. It was one thing for them to know that she talked to things that other people can't see even and another thing for them to be seeing it firsthand. But after the initial surprise of the matter, she could see that they didn't have a problem with it. Beside her, Mila smiled a genuine smile that made her seem years younger than she really was. "I remember you too, Lizzie."

"She said she remembers you too." The comment excited Liz and her impossibly wide smile only got wider. Chloe turned back to Mila expectantly. "What did you mean earlier when you said that you can help?"

"I mean, I'm a source of information and infiltration," she said as seriously as she could manage and Chloe cocked an eyebrow. "Seriously, I can get through walls and I can move things, as long as I have enough juice. I can get around without being noticed and bring back information. I can basically be your eyes and ears."

Chloe repeated the message and the others seemed to agree with her on her purpose. Derek pondered the thoughts for a moment before nodding once, having made up his mind. "Good. We're going to need all the help we can get if we're going to get our hands on the full records."

* * *

 **I hope that didn't seem as strained as I felt writing it... xD There is chapter and if you will excuse me, I'm going to do the pile of homework I've been putting off. R and R if you please**

 **Love y'all. Tootles - Brii**


	10. Pep Rallies and Football Games

**A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while and I'm making this A/N short cause I'm super loopy rn from lack of sleep and pills. I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while and I want to give a shout out to two reviewers really quickly.**

 **Firstly, JDrummond, I just want to say that you're awesome and you're invested enough in this story to PM me encouragement while I'm away so I just want to say thanks**

 **Secondly, Guest, I am SO SORRY. I wanted to post before you left, but everything just got more and more hectic. But I'm hoping that I'll have this story done, or at least on the last chapter for when you get back so you have something to read.**

 **Special thanks to JDrummond, Guest, Barayah, SME13, and Huntsman-in-the-snow for reviewing :) Thank you all so much. But I also want to thank my silent readers too cause you read this and you're awesome.**

 **I need sleep so I'm done now, sorry if that didn't make sense**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Pep Rallies and Football Games**

"Are you ready, Panthers?"

Chloe grimaced as the crowd around her erupted in a loud cheer that rivaled the ones that had been made in the past few moments. At this rate, she was going to lose her hearing by the end of the afternoon. She hated pep rallies. When the announcement had come on in the middle of her math class, she had thought that it had been a blessing in disguise. It had interrupted the teacher in the process of taking up the latest test that she had bombed earlier that week, so to say that Chloe hadn't been enjoying the class was an understatement. All the numbers made her head feel like it was going to explode and she couldn't concentrate in the class. Her mind was elsewhere. So when classmates started filing out of the classroom, she had no problem following them. Because if there was one thing that she knew, it was that anything was better than math.

She had never been so wrong in her life.

"I don't think you heard me." The boy who was speaking into the microphone had a mop of fire read hair on his head and a voice that wasn't unpleasant to hear. She had seen him with the rest of the popular kids. The moment that he started talking, the crowd around Chloe quieted down and it seemed as if everyone was holding their breath. "Because I know you can be louder than that. I said, are you ready, Panthers?!"

The crowd erupted in a—somehow—even louder cheer than mere seconds before. Chloe idly wondered if her eardrums would burst as everyone around her got on their feet to cheer and scream, a particularly loud group of girls beside her shrieked their hearts out. She was seriously considering stabbing them when Simon's chuckle reached her ear. "You look like you're ready to kill someone."

"If she doesn't, I will," Tori gritted out over the still cheering crowd as she pressed her fingers into temples. "Their voices are grating."

Simon rolled his eyes at his sister. "They're not that bad. Right, Chloe?"

"Sorry, what? I couldn't hear you over the blood in my ears."

Chloe saw a look of panic cross Simon's face before he caught sight of the look on her face. "That wasn't funny."

"I'm just kidding," Chloe smiled. "But it is pretty bad."

Tori smirked in triumph as Simon held up his hands in defeat. Chloe didn't pay attention to the rest of the conversation, her eyes wondering around the gym again. In all the commotion of getting to the gym and finding seats, she hadn't really been able to look around the gym. She had been lucky when Simon had pulled her out of the stampeding crowd and led her over to the front seats he had saved with Tori at the bottom of the stands. The gym itself was huge. It managed to contain the entirety of the student body along with faculty members, who were sitting among themselves as the pep rally had gone underway. The entire place was popping with black, red, and silver designs that ranged from the banners that hung over the walls right down to the uniforms that the students wore. The banners were black and red, respectively. Each had their own silver panther etched in the middle and she gathered that it was the school mascot. She had already seen someone in a ridiculous panther suit, sporting a red and black jersey as they ran around pumping up the crowd. But the thing that really caught her attention were the people in the middle.

Beside the podium where the redhead was shouting enthusiasm at the crowd, sat a strange group of people. On one side, there were two people. The first was a man who looked old with balding dark hair and glasses over beady eyes. His eyes moved restlessly over the crowd as if he were looking for something and for some reason, she hoped he never found it. The other man was much simpler, wearing a plain black jacket with matching shorts and a white shirt beneath it with a golden whistle hanging from his neck. A baseball cap covered his head and dark sunglasses covered half his face, but the dark that was uncovered seemed emotionless. On the other side of the podium sat what Chloe assumed was the football team. As she scanned over the boys, her brows nearly leapt off her face as her eyes locked on Derek in the front row. This was the first time that she had seen him today and this was the last place she thought he would be. Derek actually looked more annoyed than Tori and Chloe were combined, a scowl set deep in his face and deepening.

She said so to Simon and he snorted. "That's an understatement. He hates this stuff. All the noise gives him a headache."

Chloe's eyes widened as she remembered what he had told her about his powers before. _I have better hearing than most_. "Oh, god. All this must sound like… I don't even know. How does he handle it?"

"Practice. He had to get used to it, always going to my games. Plus, now he's the face of the team so he has to endure it even more so now."

"The face of the team?"

"Yeah, everybody is counting on him because he's the quarterback," Simon explained. "Not so fond of the pep rallies, but he deals with it. Mostly for Liz though."

"Liz?" Chloe asked in confusion, looking around. "Where is she?"

"She'll be out soon," he said with a bright, mysterious smile. "You'll love it, don't worry."

"All right, that's what I like to hear!" the redhead's voice boomed through the speakers around them. The crowd responded immediately with shuffling and silence as they all tried to quiet enough to hear him. "It sounds like you guys are ready to cheer our Panthers to another win tonight! But enough of me. Why don't you guys help me give our lovely cheerleaders a warm welcome?"

 _What's the point in quieting down if you're just going to continue to scream yourself hoarse two minutes later?_ Chloe thought bemusedly as another massive cheer erupted from the crowd that rivaled the past two. She was almost certain that her ears popped in the process. Beside her, Simon was cheering just as loudly as everyone else and even Tori was clapping. Shifting her gaze to Derek, she saw that his scowl had only gotten deeper as he glared at the redhead. The thundering of feet brought her attention to the far side of the gym and she looked up in time to see a crowd red and black blurs running in. Actually, they came in flipping. Chloe's eyes followed the rows of cheerleaders as they flipped into the gym in pairs, Liz leading the charge with Amber next to her. The crowd erupted in even more cheering when they finally stopped, all in different poses as the crowd went crazy. A sudden blast of loud music had her flying out of seat. Clutching her heart and flipping off a chuckling Simon, Chloe let herself be distracted by the cheerleaders' performance as her eyes instantly went to follow two girls that were flipping around. She was so focused on the girls that she didn't realize that Mila was standing beside her until the ghost started waving her hand in Chloe's face, which effectively stopped her heart.

"Sorry." Mila had to shout to be heard over the music. She didn't seem sorry. Actually, she seemed amused. "You should really pay more attention to your surroundings. I need to talk to you. Alone."

Chloe pinched her lips together to prevent answering. Just because no one could hear her didn't mean that it was okay for her to be talking to the air. That was a one way ticket to a mental hospital. Turning stiffly to Simon, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention before leaning in. "Do you know where the washrooms are?"

"Yeah, just outside the doors," he paused, leaning back to look at her face. "You okay?"

Chloe hesitated. _I'll fill him in later_. "Yeah, just got need to pee. Where exactly?"

"Uh, straight out the doors down there and then turn right and it's the second door on the left."

Chloe nodded before glancing over at the teachers. Most of them looked like they were really enjoying the show, though there were a few who looked like they were bored out of their minds. "Will they give me any trouble?'

"Who?" Simon's gaze followed hers. "Nah, they don't care. This goes right into lunch and most people don't care about anything else."

"All right, thanks."

Chloe ducked around him, giving Tori a brief explanation before heading in the direction of the door. She was glad for the cover that the crowd gave her as she walked to the doorway, Mila trailing at her feet. She was almost at the door when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she stiffened, glancing over her shoulder. Eyes scanning the crowd, no one was watching her. Everyone that she laid eyes on were focused on the girls dancing in the center. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching her. Letting her gaze move back to the cheerleaders, she almost chalked it up to being paranoid when she met an ice blue gaze with her own. In the group of guys that were sitting in the front, Liam sat upfront with Derek. His eyes were trained on her and the smirk on his face widened into a predatory grin. Chloe fought to keep her expression bored as she met his gaze before looking away and getting caught in Derek's green eyed gaze this time. Though his face remained a neutral mask, she could see his curiosity. She merely lifted a shoulder in a half shrug, giving Liam a quick, cautious look before she hurried through the door with Mila hot on her heels. As per Simon's directions, she turned immediately and headed down the hall until she saw the washroom sign. Pushing through, she quickly checked and discovered no one was there.

"We're all good," Chloe said with relief. She didn't realize how much pressure had been on her until she left the gym. Her head felt like it was a million times lighter now. "What's up?"

"So I went to the office," Mila started and that peaked Chloe's interest. _So that's where you disappeared to_ , Chloe thought absently as she stared at the ghost girl before her. Today was the first time since Sunday that Mila had left her side and though it had been a relief to get her personal space back, she had also been a bit worried as well. "Or I tried to. It was like walking through sludge when I stepped into the reception area but I couldn't get into the actual principal's office at all. It was like there was an invisible wall keeping me out from all sides. And that's saying something because I can usually just walk through walls with no problem."

Chloe thought for a moment before nodding. "It must be a spell or something. I'll ask Simon about it."

"You do that." Chloe glanced at Mila warily. The way it had been said didn't strike Chloe as exactly friendly but she let it slide. Mila was just frustrated about not being able to get into the office. "Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you was that I overheard the secretary talking to the vice principal. They were talking about how excited they were for the first home game in football tonight and they couldn't wait to watch it. I'm pretty sure it was less about the football and more about the people playing the game. They never said names but they kept saying that two specific players were showing 'extraordinary potential', whatever the hell that means and that the principal was chomping at the bit to see them in action, which I thought was kind of weird—"

"Mila," Chloe interrupted sharply when it became apparent that the brunette wasn't getting to her point any time soon. "What's your point?"

"It _means_ that everyone will be out of the office tonight," Mila said with a fierce grin. "The entire office will be gone. Do you know what that means?"

Realization dawned on Chloe's face. "We can get the files."

"We can get the files," Mila repeated, her grin only widening. "Today is the day we get those files."

Chloe nodded slowly, mind racing. On Sunday, Derek had explained that the office would be empty on Friday and vulnerable. But they had to be careful until then and make sure not to give away that they had hacked into the computer systems. In the beginning, she had been skeptical at best about the whole thing. There was no way he could know when the office was empty and they weren't stupid enough to just blurt things so important out. But as the week slowly went on, she had realized just how hard it was going to be to do that. Everything made her jumpy. A teacher would call her name in the hall on Monday and she had been sure that they had gotten busted. In actuality, she had just left her phone on her desk. It was the feeling that at any moment that she was about to be busted and, worse, caught by the people who wanted her dead that had her antsy over the entire week. That and the fact that Derek had refused to divulge exactly how they were going to get the files, just that they were going to get them today.

"I guess Derek was right," Chloe sighed in resignation. It was almost irritating how accurate the guy was about everything. "We should tell the others what you heard later."

"Yeah, about that… Are you sure that you trust them?" Chloe stared blankly at Mila and the girl hurried to continue, nearly becoming unintelligible while she spoke. "It's not that they haven't proved that they're trying to help, but… what do you know about any of them? Nothing, really, other than what they told you. Plus, don't you think it's kind of weird how he just knew the exact moment when the office was going to be empty for them to steal the files? Or how easily Tori was able to get a hold of the files that we have now? It's almost too easy. You—"

"I trust them," Chloe burst out suddenly and Mila cut off, watching her warily. "We're all on the same side."

"But that's the thing, Chloe! You might be on their side, but they might not be on yours."

Chloe looked away but not before the doubt in her eyes showed. It had crossed her mind more than once that she was being played. She wasn't actually a dumb blonde after all. It wasn't hard to see how perfect of a set up. Her old friends taking her under their supernatural wings to show her the ropes as they fight to keep her alive? Yeah, she could see it now. She was a screen writer who couldn't have written it better herself. She had watched enough movies to know what a set up looked like. But then again, life wasn't a movie. This wasn't something that she could just turn off and come back to later. This was her life and she knew the risks that she was taking and, for better or worse, she did trust them to keep her safe. She knew in her gut that they were all in this together from here on out and she wasn't going to spend precious time wandering if she should trust them or not when she was on the lookout for the person who was actually planning to kill her.

"I trust them, Mila," Chloe said again, her voice stronger this time. "I do. Besides, if they were the people hunting me, I'd be dead by now. Lord knows how many times Derek's had the chance to take me away with no one noticing."

Mila seemed to relax slightly before stiffening again. "Wait, what do you—"

"Oh, they're so _hot_!" a voice squealed from outside the door. Eyes widening, Chloe shushed Mila and quickly walked over to the sink to look like she was fixing her makeup. A second later, the girls who had been sitting beside her walked into the washroom. "—I mean, have you _seen_ the muscles on them?"

"Oh my god, yes!" the blonde one squealed to brunette who had walked right past Chloe as if she wasn't there to stare into the mirror. "Did you see Liam? He's _so_ drool worthy!"

Chloe flickered her eyes to where Mila stood and rolled her eyes. How anyone could find Liam Malloy hot was beyond her. The brunette nodded as she fluffed her hair out of her face. "He's hot, but he's not really my type. You can have him. I'm after the quarterback. Silent and mysterious with a _sexy_ body."

"Yeah, but he's _Derek Souza_. You can't just go after him, Amber called dibs."

"Well, fuck Amber," the brunette said with an exasperated sigh. "She already called dibs on Simon, she can't have the brother too, Tracy. Plus, Derek is _way_ sexier than Simon. He's got the attitude, the looks and he doesn't talk much so he must be a great listener. Simon's a boy, Derek's a man. And you know I like the older guys."

"Jeez, Cindy, you make it sound like he's in college or something! He hasn't even graduated yet," the blonde giggled. "Plus, he only hangs out with his sister and Liz anyway. He's probably dating her. And even if he isn't, how are you going to get his attention? I mean, even Amber couldn't do it."

"I haven't figured that out yet," the girl, Cindy, said with a pout as she pulled out red lipstick from her pocket. Giving a devilish smile to her friend, she leaned forward and pressed the red into her mouth. "But if it's a cheerleader he wants, I'll gladly be his personal cheerleader. In and out of the bedroom. Can I help you with something?"

In that moment, Chloe realized two things. The first thing was that she had been standing there listening to the conversation with an interest that left her confused. She chalked it up to being like watching a train wreck. It was horrible to watch but you just couldn't look away. Secondly, the brunette was talking to her. She must have realized that Chloe was eavesdropping instead of minding her own business. For some reason, the conversation had caught her attention and she couldn't stop listening. But that just ended up with her staring at the two girls dumbfounded while they spoke of the guy who had a worse attitude than she did, which was pretty damn bad if she said so herself.

"Hello? I'm talking to you," Cindy said slowly, as if Chloe was incapable of understanding. "Why are you eavesdropping?"

Chloe blinked at the girl before giving her the best wide eyed look she could muster with a fake innocent smile. "I'm sorry, I completely spaced. Did you say something to me before? I'm so sorry, I get distracted sometimes and lose time."

The brunette frowned, pocketing her lipstick before gesturing to her friend to leave. The moment the door shut behind them, Mila burst out laughing. "Oh my god!"

Chloe shook her head. "I can't believe they had that conversation. They're crazy."

"I think… you should… warn Derek… that he's… going… to get jumped!"

Mila could barely get out the words because she was laughing too hard. Chloe just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I can't believe they could talk about Derek like that."

Mila's laughter continued for another minute before she finally caught her breath—did ghost breathe? Something she would have to research later—and looked at Chloe. "What do you mean by that?"

"They said Derek was sexy, it's crazy."

Mila gave her a surprised look. "You're joking right? Derek's fucking hot!"

"Are we talking about the same Derek?" Chloe asked in a light tone, though she was mostly serious. "Because Derek Souza isn't sexy."

"Either you're blind or you're in denial because that boy is so fine that I'm actually jealous that you get to spend so much time with him. I would have jumped him if I were alive because, I have to agree with those girls, he's fucking hot."

Chloe rolled her eyes and waved off anymore comments from Mila, even as her stomach twisted unpleasantly at her words. "Okay, enough of that. I think I'm going to go back to the dorms to save my ears from your boy craziness. I'll see you later."

Mila pursed her lips but merely shrugged and vanished. Sending a quick text to Tori telling her where she had gone, Chloe made her way back to the dormitories in attempts to get some rest before she headed back to classes again. As she made her way back the way they had come earlier, her mind wandered over what had been said in the washrooms. She couldn't see how anyone could ever find Liam Malloy attractive. From his creepy looks to the way that he doesn't take no for an answer when it comes to asking her out, she couldn't see one appealing thing about him. Derek, however, was a different story. He wasn't the textbook kind of hot like Simon, who the actual embodiment of all-American good looks while Derek was the poster boy for bad boys everywhere. He rarely wore anything that wasn't dark with jet black hair covering his face and the brooding attitude that drove girls wild for some reason. Match that with his high cheek bones and the ridiculously long lashes that framed his bright green eyes, Chloe wasn't surprised that he was a catch in this school just like his siblings. She had watched countless people hit on Tori and Simon in the short time that she had been at the school. So why did the thought of Derek being hit on by those girls make her stomach tie itself in knots?

The feeling plagued her for the rest of the day, through lunch and all the way to dinner. It was an early dinner because of the football game, of course, and she found herself pondering thoughts from earlier as Derek and Simon joined the girls table with heaping plates of food in tow. She hadn't seen Derek since she had left the gym because he hadn't shown up for English today and she was starting to get antsy. She wanted to know what the plan was for the files. She had already told the others what Mila told her, confirming that tonight was the night to strike, but she was still clueless on the plan. Were they going to get them before the game? Were they going to get them during the game? How was he going to do that during the game when he was playing? Questions kept swirling around her head and she didn't know which one to ask first which left her sitting there, picking at her salad as she shot irritated looks in Derek's direction.

"Has anyone ever told you that it's rude to stare?"

The deep voice startled Chloe enough that she dropped her fork in her salad. Glancing over at Derek, she frowned as she realized he was staring at her. "What?"

Sighing, Derek shoved what looked like a barely eaten plate of spaghetti away from him. "You've been staring at me since I sat down. Why?"

"I haven't—"

"Yes, you have," Tori cut her off. "It goes faster if you don't deny things."

Chloe stared at her friend for a moment before looking back at Derek. "I just wanted to know what the plan is. For getting… everything."

Understanding crossed Derek's features and he nodded, scratching at his forearm absently. "You want to know how we're going to get in."

"Yes!" Chloe breathed with relief. "I mean, I can't really help if you don't let me in on the plan."

"That's fine. Because you're not going to get involved."

Chloe blinked at Derek for a moment before looking around in disbelief at the people around her. They were all avoiding eye contact in some way. Liz had taken up a sudden interest in her salad, Tori was scrolling through Instagram on her phone and Simon was staring at his brother with a set jaw. The only person who would look her in the eye was Derek and his face said that he wasn't joking. "What the hell do you mean that I'm not involved?"

"Exactly that."

Chloe scowled at the giant in front of her. "Like hell I'm not involved. I'm the target so why wouldn't I—"

"Ruin the entire thing by getting yourself caught? Go in and probably set off every alarm in the place by tripping over your own feet? Gee, I wonder why," Derek sneered and shook his head. "You have no idea what you would be doing."

Chloe's face turned red with anger as Simon jumped in to try to handle the situation. "Easy, D. A bit harsh, don't you think?"

"It's true, and if she's too stubborn to see reason, it will get everyone else caught," Derek gritted out as he kept scratching at his forearm. Chloe's gaze drifted down to watch the movement, scowl deepening as he continued to speak. "I'm not saying that she won't be useful in the future. I'm saying, for this particular thing, we need to be careful and we need as little people as possible. Plus, you're being watched."

"What?"

"You heard me." Derek's eyes met hers again and she saw something flit through them briefly. "You're being watched. So you need to be as normal as possible and know as little as possible so that you're not put on the spot to lie for us."

Chloe pursed her lips. It was a real reason and there wasn't really a reason for her to argue with him, but she could tell that he wasn't giving her the entire truth. Again. But this wasn't time to argue. They were in public and from the look on his face, he really believed that they were being watched. Something that she had feared but didn't want to give too much thought to. Nodding slowly in acceptance of what she was going to have to do, she sighed as she pushed her lettuce around. Her appetite was gone. "So what will I do while you guys are off doing whatever?"

"You do whatever you would usually do on a Friday night," Derek responded after a moment of thought. Chloe's eyes drifted down to his forearm again, which he was still scratching. His sleeve had pulled up slightly and she caught sight of what looked like the beginning of welts all over his arms from scratching too hard. Noticing her gaze, Derek yanked the sleeve down and dropped his hand. "Did you plan on going to the game?"

Chloe pursed her lips. She had never been much of a fan of football, but there wasn't anything better for her to do now that she knew she wasn't a part of the group stealing the file. "Yeah, I'll be there. Wouldn't want to miss the Panther's first home game."

Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It's no different than our away games. I have to go warm up."

Picking up his full tray, Derek moved to leave and Chloe frowned. "You barely touched your food. Don't you need your energy to quarterback or whatever?"

Rolling his eyes, Derek dropped a hand to scratch his stomach. "Big lunch."

Without another word, he left but not before Chloe saw the light coat of sweat glinting on his forehead. Turning to Simon, she frowned. "Is he okay? He doesn't seem a hundred percent."

"He said he wasn't feeling so hot this morning," Simon admitted after a moment. "But Derek won't admit to being under the weather unless it's really bad. Like I'm pretty sure he could come down with scurvy and he would still try to play. He'll be fine though. He doesn't usually get sick."

Chloe nodded and the conversation turned to a lighter topic, but she could tell the something was weighing on all of them. She didn't ask. If they wanted to tell her, they would. But as they all parted ways, she was almost positive that something was going on that didn't have anything to do with the files at all.

An hour later, Chloe found herself on the bottom of the bleachers behind the players' bench with Simon sitting beside her as the game started. She didn't pay much attention at first, mostly because she didn't know how it was played, but after Simon explained the basics to her, she actually started to enjoy it like everyone else. Actually, that was an overstatements. There was no way that she could enjoy the game as much as the people around her did. Everyone was up on their feet as they shouted, stomped, and cheered throughout the entire thing. When halftime came around, Liz and the other cheerleaders ran onto the field to dazzle the crowd with their moves. There were a few cat calls, but there wasn't anything that Chloe hadn't heard earlier that day. About halfway through the show, Tori showed up with a dazzling smile and a duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she made her way down the sidelines. However, instead of looking for where they were sitting, she made a beeline to where Derek was resting on the players' bench. Leaning in to whisper something in his ear, Tori handed the bag over as Derek nodded before she turned on her heel and strutted over to where Simon and Chloe were sitting. _What was in that bag_ , Chloe wondered as the cheerleaders finished and ran off, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. As she passed, Liz paused to take Derek's water bottle and took a big swig before picking up the duffle bag that Tori had just given him and taking it to the change rooms with her.

The Panther's won, no surprise in that. They had been up two touchdowns before halftime and crushed the opposing team after. They hadn't stood a chance. What seemed like the entire school cheered and there were shouts of what seemed to be an invitation to a dormitory party. That's about when everyone raced back to the dorms while the cheerleaders and players alike heading to the change rooms to grab their things. Chloe, however, made no move to leave the bleachers and when Simon and Tori asked if she was going to join them in getting drunk out of their minds in celebration, she passed. It was a nice night and Chloe just wanted to enjoy it for a bit before having to go back to her room. As she watched her friends walk away, she made her way to the edge of the forest where the trees stopped and the football fields begun.

It had been a while since she had been outside at night. Almost too long to remember the last time she had done it. It had never been allowed in Buffalo. Plus, there was nowhere that she could just look up and see the stars in a city like that. The one thing that she enjoyed about being stuck in the middle of nowhere was that she could see all the stars and the moon for once. It was a habit that she had gotten from her mom, while she was alive, and that she had carried on. Whenever there was a full moon, they would try to get outside and just enjoy the purity of it. It had always made her feel… whole inside. Somewhere in her book, she remembered reading about how the moon gave power to necromancers. It was light in the darkness, it had said, just like necromancers are like a light in the darkness to ghosts. The thought brought a smile to her face as she remembered what her mother used to call her. _My little moon. So gentle, yet so bright._ The thought made her shiver, wrapping her arms around herself in a makeshift hug as if it would keep the warmth that the words brought.

A sudden darkness covered her eyes and Chloe frowned, staring up again. The trees were covering her view. Without thinking, she reached up for a steady branch and hoisted herself up. Perching herself precariously on the branch, she reached up again and swung herself another level up to where the moon was now poking through the trees. _One more level_ , she thought as she swung herself up again and the moon broke free from trees. Sighing in contentment, she leaned back against the trunk of the trees and basked in the moonlight. A feeling of warm pasted through her body and for what felt like the first time in a long time, Chloe felt relaxed and at ease with herself. She knew that she shouldn't be doing this and she knew that there was someone out there trying to kill her, but at this moment everything else fell away. She could feel the power radiating around her from all the living things as well as the natural around her and it warmed her insides to the point where she felt almost drugged by it.

She was just drifting off when she felt it. A surge of power so intense that she nearly fell out of the tree. Steadying herself with an outstretched hand, Chloe looked around. It was strange but it _felt_ like someone was calling for help. She couldn't explain it but when another wave hit her again, she knew. Someone—something—was in pain. Gut wrenching, unbelievable pain. It was like nothing she had ever felt before Waves and waves of it were flowing out towards her and she felt almost lightheaded at the sensation. She had barely gotten a taste of the power, but it was so strong, so raw, that it left Chloe dizzy with its intensity. Taking another deep breath to center herself, she tried to focus on reaching out her energy to whatever was in such pain. She didn't know if she could do it, but they needed to know someone could hear their pain. That someone cared. The pain kept coming however and after a few more moments of trying, she wasn't able to stand it anymore. She had to find the source.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Chloe muttered to herself as she sung herself out of the tree and landed on the balls on her feet. "This is a stupid idea and it's going to bite me in the ass."

Closing her eyes, she imagined opening herself up to the power and was hit hard by another wave of agony that nearly made her knees buckle. Steadying herself against the tree beside her, Chloe tried her hardest to keep from falling over and let the power pull her in. She didn't even realize she was moving until she opened her eyes and nearly ran into a tree. She kept creeping along the edge of the woods until she was standing in front of the agony and when it hit her, she felt it to the point of her own pain. She had never felt something so strong before and all she knew was that she needed to help. But there was a part of her holding her back because she was so scared of what she might find. Did her fear outweigh their pain? No. She moved forwards into the woods, carefully hiding behind the trees as she made her way deeper and deeper in. She had just lost sight of the field behind her when she reached a clearing of where the moon was flowing bright into the center of the clearing. But it was what was in the center of the clearing that really caught her by surprise, a gasp ripping out of her as another wave of pain crashed over her.

"Derek?"

* * *

 **So don't hate me for making it a cliffy? It's long, I know. Just over 6000 words without A/N's so it's insane. Did you like it? Too wordy? I know there wasn't much dialogue in this sometimes, so let me know if there's anything that you want more of.**

 **R and R, if you please. Time for bed. Nighty night. Y'all are amazing. - Brii**


	11. Transformations

**A/N: I have a surprise. But that won't come for a little bit. But if any of you want to know why I was gone, school and midterms and group projects that I did by myself and performing all took up my entire time. But yeah, this chapter was hard to write as well.**

 **To all my reviewers, thank you very much.** **JDrummond, supermies, barayah, starfire31803, SME13, Huntsman-in-the-snow, bibliophile102, and Forever Summoning. Props to JDrummond for such a long review, you aint scared to tell me your opinion and I love that.**

 **And here we go again**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Transformations**

Chloe sprinted out of the trees over to where Derek laid on the other side the clearing. As she approached him, another wave of pain hit her and she staggered, nearly falling over with the sensation that hit her. She actually had to pause to steady herself, nearly loosing footing on the mildly damp grass that was under her feet as the world spun around her for a dizzying moment. She felt sick to her stomach. It seemed that the closer she got to the source of the pain, the worse it got and Chloe knew that she was only getting the excess. She couldn't imagine the pain that he was actually going through at the moment, even as she experienced a little piece of it. She didn't understand how he could have managed to go through the day like this. Pain this intense didn't just start out of nowhere.

A groan from Derek caused her head to snap up and what she saw was unbelievable. Derek was crouched on his hands and knees in only a pair of shorts. His skin was damp and pale, shadows creeping across as the light shifted between the trees. A gust of air brought a bitter, pungent smell to her nose and Chloe felt as the bile piled in the back of her throat. Chloe hesitantly took a step forward and watched as Derek's back stiffened, causing her to stop her movement all together. "Derek? It's me. It's Chloe."

"Go away."

The words didn't process right away, but when they did was like ice water poured down her shirt. He didn't sound like himself at all, his voice hoarse and guttural rather than the low rumble that she was used to. She tried again. "Derek, y-you need to get inside. It's freezing—"

"Go away, Chloe!"

His back arched and then tensed as he turned his head away from her to making a retching sound. A dry heave that she felt in her bones. She couldn't just leave him here. He wasn't well. It was less of a word and more of a growl. _He sounds almost not human_ , she thought fleetingly, but the sound of him retching into the bushes spurred her on despite his words. "Derek, we need to get you in—"

Her words were cut off as his back arched unbelievably high and a moan was ripped out Derek's mouth. Almost immediately, she was hit again with a wave of pain that caused her to fell to her knees with its intensity. He broke into another bought of coughing that he cut off with a groan after a moment, fingers digging into the earth beneath him. That's when she noticed the skin covering his arms and back were moving _on their own_. Eyes wide, she took in the sight before her. From the trees, she had thought it was just him shivering because he was outside in the cold without a shirt. But now that she could see him up close, she saw that it wasn't his entire body shaking but the muscles underneath it. It looked like there were snakes under his skin, moving as they coiled in, out and around each other. _Now that… that isn't normal_. All the skin over his body was rippling as if it was the waves of an ocean.

"Holy…" she trailed off, swallowing hard. "T-T-This is crazy! We need to get you help—a doctor—to the hospital—"

"No!" Derek's panicked shout stopped her words in her throat. "I… am fine. Just leave, Chloe."

"But you need—"

"No, Chloe!" The word was snarled at her as he whipped his head up for a moment before he dropped it out of her sight again. The glimpse that she saw was misshapen and distorted in a way that she couldn't understand. "I c... I… can't."

By this point, he was panting and the bitter smell of stomach acid was making its way into her nostrils with every passing gust of wind. She knew he was right. He couldn't go to the hospital. Maybe this was part of his supernatural genes. How would she explain that when—if—she was able to get him inside to the nurse's office? It was definitely something that she had never seen before and she had seen plenty with a nurse's office. But she couldn't just leave him like this, in such pain. Wringing her hands, Chloe got back on her feet and started moving towards him again. "O-O-Okay, no hospital. But you need someone… Simon! I can go—"

"No!" an immediate answer that was followed by what sounded like a half swallowed groan. "No… Simon… please."

Chloe opened her mouth to argue, to say that Simon should be here when he's in so much pain, but the words were caught in her throat as the sickening sound of a large snap came from Derek and he through his head back to _howl_. Her jaw dropped open as she finally saw his face in the light that was streaming through the clearing. It seemed as if his features had changed in the past few minutes. All the features that he had before had become more animalistic. It reminded her of a cartoon character who had been it in the face with a frying pan. It looked like his nose had been flattened and his cheekbones had come up to meet them in a way that shouldn't have been possible for a human skeleton to accomplish. Before her eyes it almost looked as if his face was lengthening into… a muzzle. _Just like a dog_.

Suddenly everything seemed to click into place and if Chloe's jaw could drop more, it would have been on the floor. How stupid was she? She should have seen the signs before. The enhanced senses, with the way that he could hear her screams in the alley and how he had heard her heart racing in the room. The way that he moved a body without any struggle when she knew it took a team of people to do it normally. And how he hadn't actually told her what race he was when she had asked him before. The full moon overhead. She might not have seen all those signs, but she couldn't deny the evidence standing in front of her. Not as she realized that the shadows going over his body were actually dark fur that was coming shooting out of his skin one moment before retracting the next.

Derek was a werewolf.

Chloe continued to watch in as Derek's body continued to change in front of her in ways that she hadn't though imagine was possible. He had to be turning _into_ a wolf. _But that can't be humanly possible_. But as she continued to watch, she realized that it was in fact possible as his body continued to realign itself. She was starting to realize that there wasn't anything that wasn't possible in the supernatural world. She used to think that talking to ghosts was all bullshit and hocus pocus until the first one jumped out at her. Werewolves weren't that far of a stretch, rationally. But that didn't stop a short burst of fear from running through her brain as every horror movie involving werewolves ran through her mind at once. _What if he can't control himself after he turns? Is that why he was telling me to go? To not bring Simon? Because after he changed he wouldn't be able to keep himself from hurting them? Is that why he's in the woods alone?_ The thoughts kept running through her brain, circling around and around as fear bubbled in her chest causing her to stand froze just a few steps away from him. _What do I do? Do I run?_ There was a pop then what sounded like another sickening snap of bone followed by a gurgling sound. Without a thought, Chloe kneeling at Derek's side in a moment with her hands outstretched. She didn't want to startle him, but she really did want to help him. There was no way that she could just turn and run, leaving him alone in such a state of pain. No one deserved that.

"Derek," she breathed. His back stiffened as his head turned to meet her gaze and in it she saw something she never thought she would see in his eyes. It was the look of fear, pain, and shame. The look in his eyes chased all the remainder of fear away instantly, leaving only a heavy sense of determination in its wake as she met his gaze unwaveringly. It didn't matter what he was turning into. This was still Derek. The same guy that had helped her keep a level head when she had reanimated a corpse. The same guy that, despite knowing what had happened in Buffalo, still thought that she was worth helping. He was still her friend and she wasn't going to let him go through all of this on his own. Not if she could help. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to help you through this, okay?"

Reaching out slowly, she tentatively touched his shoulders and was surprised by the feeling of fur under her fingers. It had stopped retracting and was now growing in layers that now covered all of his skin. She didn't know what that meant, if he was getting near the end of the change but it didn't matter. She wouldn't let him go through this alone. "You're doing great. You're almost done, right? It won't be too long now, just keep going."

Bright green eyes met blues for a moment in confusion and relief. In that instant, she knew how scared he had been that she would reject him, that she would leave him to tough this out on his own because she was scared of him. She met his eyes calmly, determination shining through as she watched the human eyes take on an almost beastly quality as they became more wolf than human before he dropped his head again. Chloe tried not to dwell on any negative thoughts as she kept whispering meaningless encouragement to him as his bones shifted under her hands. A moment too late she realized that his bones had stopped shifting and slowly lifted her head to look into the brilliant green eyes of a gigantic black wolf. _You idiot, you're about to get mauled by a wolf_ , a tiny voice in her head whispered. The cynical screenwriter that watched too many horror movies. _You're about to die_. But even as a wolf, she could still see the Derek that she knew as she pulled back her hands.

"Derek?" her voice sounded steadier than she felt as he tilted his head at her. Then his eyes rolled back and he crashed in a heap on the ground in front of her. "Oh! Are you okay?"

An awkward jerk of his head as his tongue lolled out of his mouth. He was just tired from changing forms. And not murderous in any way, which was a plus that helped to calm her director mind from running rampant with horrible scenarios of what could have happened. A thought occurred to her suddenly.

"Do you want to be alone?" This time, he gave a shake of his head. It reminded her of a dog trying to dry their coat. Suppressing a smile, she watched him shift until he was comfortably resting on his side. "So I'm guessing you can understand me then?"

Another nod, followed by grumbling at what she assumed was the awkwardness of the motion. Chloe couldn't help but smile. "And you can't speak, can you? I think I like you better this way."

There was a rumbling sound that took her a moment to realize was actually a chuckle and she grinned. _Definitely like this Derek better,_ she thought to herself as she watched him shift again to rest on his stomach as he laid his head on his forepaws. He snarled a yawn and Chloe was greeted with the sight of a group of canines the size of her thumb. Eyes wide, she made a note to stay away from his mouth. She watched him for a moment, taking in the closing of his eyes and the even breathing before pushing up onto her feet, brushing the dirt and grass off of her knees. She was just starting to tip toe away when she was greeted with a growl. Jumping, she turned around to see Derek with his head raised.

"I was going to let you rest—" the rest of her sentence was a growl and another jerking head motion in her direction. _Stop being stupid and come back here_. Chloe could actually hear his voice in her head, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to poke a little fun at him. "I can't tell if you were saying yes or you're just mad or… I don't even know. Use your words, Derek."

Now that really got her a look. She hadn't thought it was possible for a wolf to look so annoyed until she had seen it with her own eyes. Chloe was actually taken back by the familiarity of the action. Snickering to herself at the ridiculousness of the entire situation, she moved until she was able to plop down beside Derek, grimacing slightly as she felt another batch of moisture seep through her pants. Derek shifted slightly before resting on his head again.

"So… you're a werewolf," Chloe said after a moment of silence and was met with silence. She hadn't really expected an answer, but when she looked at him she found that his green eyes probing her as much as when he was human. He must have been expecting it. "But obviously, you already knew that or you would be really freaked out right now. But you seem pretty calm… which is good… I think. Or maybe you're in shock… which wouldn't be good… but I, uh…I'm babbling, aren't I?"

All while she was talking, Derek continued to look at her with what she assumed was his normal blank expression. There was no point in trying to get information when he couldn't talk. But she was going to get answers. "So as always, I'm the last to know everything. When you're human, we seriously need to talk. Like full explanations, no holding back. Or I'll have to hurt you."

A snort, a very human gesture, as he finally got onto his feet, wobbling slightly before really getting his footing and giving her the first good look at him since he changed. He was huge, much bigger than a normal wolf for sure. It made sense. He was a huge guy, over six foot and easily two hundred pounds. It wasn't as if it all just vanished when he turned into the wolf. The mass had to be transferred somehow. So Derek was a big, midnight black wolf. Chloe watched as he started trotting off around the edge of the clearing, picking up speed as he went until he was only a blur of black that flashed through the moonlight. She watched in awe as he continued to run, barely making a sound as he moved. He came to a sudden halt in front of her and, for a moment reminded her of overenthusiastic dogs in the part with their tongues lolling out of their mouths and their tails wagging.

"For someone who just went through a lot of bone breaking, you seem rather enthusiastic," Chloe said with a smirk. "Guess it's the whole wolf thing, huh? Need to stretch your legs and exercise? Chase bunnies and such?"

It was the end part that really got her the look that he gave her, making her laugh. "Yeah, okay, maybe not the chasing bunnies part but still. What do you usually do when you turn into a wolf? Run around?" The response that was a jerk as well as a shake of his head. _A yes and a no then._ "But you should stretch your legs… How 'bout we play a game?"

That got her another one of his signature looks, which she just laughed at. "Well, you won't let me leave and I'm not just going to sit here. I mean, it'll be fun! I even promise that it won't be fetch." She snickered even as he growled at her. "Come on, please? Tag? Hid and seek? Something."

Derek seemed to consider it, head tilted to the side. A moment later, he trotted over and bump Chloe with his nose before taking off across the clearing. _What in the…?_ She stared at him on the other side of the clearing in confusion, and he growled in frustration. Shoving to her feet, she walked over to where he was standing on the other side of the clearing slowly, waiting expectantly for him to do something crazy. Just before she reached him, however, Derek danced out of the way until he was just out of her reach. Frowning, she tried to get close to him again and again, he danced away from her until he was just right out of her reach again.

 _What the…_ Blinking, she turned to look at him in disbelief. _Is this what I think it is?_

Derek swung his gaze her way, challenge glinting in his glittering green eyes. Lips twitching, I took off behind him and the game was on. The feeling of playing a familiar children's game had adrenaline and blood pumping hard in head. Chloe had never been one for having loads of stamina, though, and though she was having more fun than she thought a teenager could get from playing tag, she ended up doubled over after a while of running. As she caught her breath, Derek danced around her. Playful Derek was something that she hadn't really seem before, but definitely something that she could get used to.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually, Derek stopped playing and slunk over to rest beside the batch of bushes she had found him beside. She didn't realize until it was too late that he was changing back from one form to the other. Transforming back seemed much less painful than turning into a wolf, but that could have been because his vocal chords were changing too much for him to make a sound. Chloe helped him through it until he was back to human forming, panting in a heap on the floor. It wasn't until her eyes found the hard muscles of his back that she realized that he wasn't wearing any clothes.

Jerking her head up and hand back, she awkwardly cleared her throat as her cheeks burned. "Uhm… you have… other clothes, yeah?"

A grunt was all she got in reply but she felt when he moved away. Chloe tried to keep her gaze on anything other than the naked boy in front of her, eyes roaming around the clearing as she took in the place around her for the first time. It really was beautiful, the clearing that they were in. The trees overhead had grown in a canopy that filtered green light that came off the leaves as well as the white light that the moon peeked through stages. Before, the moon had been low, hanging on the edge of the trees as it shone clearly into the clearing, able to be seen even through the density of the trees. Now, though, it seemed to be floating right above them, causing the light to beam down in an almost halo towards the center of the clearing. _It would be a really romantic spot for a date,_ she thought absently to herself. But remembering what had happened mere moments ago, she couldn't help shaking her head at herself. _Yeah, especially when your date's in unbelievable pain and turning into a wolf._ A shiver racked through her at the reminder of the pain that he had experienced, and what she had experienced in the ripples that he had flown off him.

"You're cold." Chloe's head moved of her own accord and was greeted with the sight of a smooth, very muscular chest. Mouth falling wide open, she stared blankly at Derek. The tee shirt really hadn't done justice to his body. It looked like something out of a movie, it was so incredibly chiseled. Forcing her eyes up to his, she blinked. "Here."

He tossed something in her direction and she caught soft material in her hand at the last moment. It took a minute to realize that what he had tossed her was a sweater. She would have protested that she couldn't wear it when he didn't even have a shirt on, but he silently rebuffed her as he pulled a grey sort sleeve over his head. "I'm fine. You need—"

"No, _you_ need to put it on," Derek said as he reached down to pick up the team wind breaker he had been wearing earlier. "I'm not the one turning blue."

Chloe frowned, looking down at herself. She hadn't noticed the goosebumps that were breaking out on their skin, but she thought they were more from her nerves than anything. But Derek had that face he got whenever he was going to be stubborn, so she pulled the sweater over her head. It was too big for her, it was more the size of a mini-dress from the way it hung at her thighs and the arms were well past her fingers. But it was warm. "There? Happy?"

Derek grunted, stooping as he gathered the rest of his things before standing to his full height with his duffle slung over his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Chloe's brows shot up and a surprised chuckle escaped her lips. "Am I okay? I thought I was supposed to ask you that. You are the one that went through all that. I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, you did." The sincerity of his words really threw her off balance and her eyes snapped up to his for a moment. He really meant what he had said. Her stomach twisted slightly and she looked down at her covered arms. "You did a lot."

Chloe nodded slowly, not knowing what to say. Eyes flitted up to his face and, though he still had sweat covering his face, he looked much more at ease now than before. "How are you doing? Are you okay?"

"Just tired," he said as he raked a hand through his hair. "We should get back, it's pretty late."

Chloe nodded nervously. "Yeah, okay. But that doesn't mean I'm letting you out of explaining anything. Because if you thought I was going to let you get away with that, you've got another thing coming, buddy."

On some level, she knew that she sounded absolutely ridiculous but the words kept flowing and escaping before she could really think of them. The rumbling chuckle Derek gave was evidence of just how ridiculous she sounded. Chloe would have complained, but she was taken off guard by the small smile that he was now sporting. It was such a difference from the scowl that she had seen earlier that evening. As she followed him through the thickness of the trees, she wondered back to earlier and about his mood. It had been clear he wasn't feeling well, but she had thought that it was mainly having to deal with her that had put Derek in such a bad mood.

"So, I'm guessing you have some questions," Derek started slowly. She couldn't see his face from the angle she was at with the darkness of the trees around them, so she could only guess from the tone of his voice that he had adopted the emotionless mask she had gotten so well acquainted with. "About… what you saw."

"Yes."

Silence followed that seemed to drone on, but really only lasted for a few steps before Derek blew out an irritated breath. "Well, ask."

"Oh, h-how long have you know that you were a we-werewolf?" The question tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it, a jumble of letters tangling on her tongue. She tried not to curse herself too loudly under her breath. "I just mean, I didn't know about my p-powers until they smacked me in the face. Did that happen to you?"

"No, I always knew," Derek's voice was bitter as he pushed into the field. "I knew what was waiting for me. Or I should have."

"How often do you change?"

"Two or three times a month."

Chloe paused, seeing the look of pain cross his face. "And how many times have you gone through that pain alone?"

Her voice was barely a whisper, but it didn't matter. He paused, looking down at her for a moment. His face was unreadable, but that could be because he was standing with his back to the moonlight which left his face in shadow. All except for his eyes, which shone like gems against the darkness. "I can take care of myself. I've been going through it since I was sixteen. Partial transformations, mostly. I didn't fully Change for a while."

"But… why is it so painful?" she whispered and he merely shrugged, gesturing her to follow him as he made his way back to the school. "Seriously, Derek, is that normal?"

"I don't know, I've never met another werewolf." Chloe was aware that she probably looked like a fish out of water by this point. "I've come across their… hangouts from time to time, but it's always a good idea to steer clear. Wolves tend to be very…territorial."

"But you don't seem to be."

A dark look passed over his face and he swung his head back to her, brows slightly furrowed. "Didn't used to be."

Chloe considered what that could mean, frowning as they walked in silence through the halls. Everything seemed too quiet. By the time they had gotten to the dorms, she was seriously spooked by the entire situation, but she couldn't understand why until she remembered the rest of the group. "Where is everyone?"

"Probably at the frat dorm," he said in a bored tone as they climbed the stairs. "That's where most of the football players and the parties are held."

"And you aren't going to head that way?"

Derek snorted. "Hell no. I already had to deal with the lot of them sober and screaming in the gym earlier. Why the hell would I subject myself to them when they're inebriated?"

Chloe actually laughed at that, thinking back to the girls from earlier. "You're right, I don't think that you want to be around the pep rally crowd with alcohol in them. You might get jumped."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Oh, a couple of girls were talking about how hot you are and how they'd do anything to date the quarterback," Chloe stated, patting her pockets for her keys. "I was going to warn you earlier, but you seemed to be in a super bad mood at dinner so I kept my mouth shut."

Silence followed and a glance at Derek told her that he was uncomfortable with the topic. He looked like his skin was filled with earth worms or something. He muttered something under his breath that probably wasn't the nicest thing, but she let it slide as they continued up the stairs. He had answered all of her questions, and more actually without much prying at all. It seemed like now that Chloe knew the truth, he was a little less hostile towards her. Not as cold as he had been earlier today, for sure. It would be too much to think that he was starting to warm up to her, but she could hope. There were at least getting somewhere.

"So no more secrets then?" Chloe asked suddenly as they approached his door. Derek had been lost in thought, taking a moment before looking down at her with a distant expression. "Earth to Derek? Jeez, and people say I'm spacy. Is there air too thin up there?"

Her voice dripped with sarcasm and his eyebrow quirked up, eyes glinting with a challenge. "It's just hard to hear you from way down there. I can barely even see you."

Chloe's eyes narrowed even as her lips twitched. She liked playful Derek, though playful wolf Derek would probably be her all-time favorite personality for the dark-haired boy standing before her. "Now you develop a sense of humor? Great. Just answer the question. Do I know everything?"

"Yes, and you can continue your incessant questions in the morning," he said in a bored tone, rummaging in his pocket for the key. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Oh, yeah, of course. You must be exhausted after that." Derek's motions faulted minutely but she pretended not to notice. "You really shouldn't do that alone. You should bring Simon out with you next time."

"No."

"But why—"

"I have my reasons," Derek cut her off sharply and her eyebrows rose. "I don't want him there."

"But he could—"

"I said no!" Derek hissed and Chloe was taken back by the fear that she saw in his eyes. Not anger, but fear that went to the heart of his being. "It's not something he needs to watch."

"You need someone to watch your back, Derek."

"I can do that just fine."

Chloe frowned as he yanked his key out of his pocket and shoved it into the door. A thought occurred to her and she hurried to get it out before he went inside. "I-I could do it."

Derek paused, turning his head to look at her. "What?"

"I could do it," she said again, steadier this time. "I know you think you can take care of yourself, and you can. Better than I can. But you need someone out there with you when you do that. It's not safe here, for any of us, and we're better in numbers. Plus, I've already seen you turn into a wolf and then back to a human. So nothing you can do will surprise me."

Derek stared at her for a moment. "Chloe—"

"Don't 'Chloe' me! Either you bring Simon or you bring me. And don't try to ditch me either, or I'll wonder around the woods until I find you."

"Don't be stupid."

"No, _you_ don't be stupid!" she snapped. Derek's eyes widened and Chloe sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. "You're being all martyr-like and taking stupid risks. If any of the others tried that, you would have our heads. Me included."

Derek didn't say anything for a moment and she sighed, turning on her heel to leave before he caught her sleeve. A jolt of energy went down her head and out of her body, causing her to jerk her hand away from him. It reminded her of when she had gotten the shocks from the school, except instead of feeling energized, she now felt exhausted. Looking back at Derek in shock, he was looking at his own hand as if it betrayed him.

"D-did you feel that too? Please tell me it wasn't just me again."

Derek eyes snapped up to hers. "What?"

"Liz and Tori never felt—"

"This happened before?"

Chloe nodded, shaking her arm out slightly. "A couple of times. It's like a power surge, you know? But this time it wasn't like giving me energy, it was taking it. I sound ridiculous, right?"

Derek shook his head, still staring at his hand. "Not ridiculous. It's probably from whatever spell they have on the school to suppress certain powers. You're strong so it probably clinging to you more than the others."

"That explains why I'm tired now," she said with a stifled yawn. "I think it was a good idea to go to bed."

"Chloe, wait." She stopped, looking at him over her shoulder. "About earlier, at dinner… what I said… I didn't mean it as an insult. I was just…"

He was struggling for words and Chloe softened slightly, shooting him a small smile. "I'm not mad. I get it. You were doing what was best."

And she really wasn't mad. Though what he said had been a little rude, she hadn't taken it to heart. It was him being extra cautious. If he wasn't going to be there, he had to make sure that he only sent people who knew what they were doing. Not the clumsy person that had physically run into almost everything in her path at least once a day. Derek looked relieved that Chloe understood and the corners of his mouth turned up into a small smile. _Second one in one day_ , she thought as her cheeks reddened for no apparent reason. _I think I'm finally starting to get Derek._

Saying goodnight, she quickly went to her own room, opening and closing the door quickly behind her before heading to her bed. She had barely even managed to get her shoes off before she fell face first into her bed, exhaustion really hitting her all at once. As she rolled over, she struggled to shuck off her wet jeans and was tugging off the sweater when she realized that she hadn't given it back to Derek. Chloe stared at it for a moment, flipping it over to see the name _Souza_ scrawled on the back above his football number. Folding it carefully, she placed it on the desk and made a mental note to bring it back to him tomorrow. Quickly changing into her pajamas, Chloe clambered back into her bed, closed her eyes and let herself be lulled to sleep by the warmth surrounding her, drifting off to a place where her biggest concern was playing tag with a big black wolf.

* * *

 **That one's done. And it went differently than how I planned. But now that it's out of the way, I just wanted to let you guys know that this story will be coming to an end in the next like 7 ish chapters. I'm not guaranteeing there will be exactly 18 chapters or anything, might be less might be more. But I've been bouncing around another story for a bit and put it on hold so that I could finish this whenever I had the time so yeah.**

 **R and R if you please. Let me know whatever you think about this chapter and well, thanks for reading :) Tootles - Brii**


	12. Tension

**A/N: I'm just going to say that life caught up with me and tried to give me a smack down, which effectively had me putting this story on hiatus until I was back in control. By life, I mean, I started and finished my exams. I also started my new job and found out that I have a demon for a manager who made me work basically every day on top of my other commitments and literally giving me time to do _nothing_. Also, my lovely Beta took three weeks to read the rough draft of this, so that was something else. In his defense, this is the 4th, possibly 5th, different version of this chapter that I've written. It was a painfully long process that was like pulling teeth, made worse by all the shit I had to deal with as well, but it's fine cause I'm back and I'm on vacation for the next two weeks, so let's get some chapters and possibly even a new story out? Maybe. One can hope.**

 **Just a quick shout out to my reviewers. JDrummond, Forever Summoning, Bookmysterr, Barayah, krc101, Anonymous, starefire31803, bibliophile102, and Guest. Thank you guys for reviewing!**

 **Also a shout out to those who read and don't review. I love y'all too! Don't worry :) I'm glad that you keep coming back to read more.**

 **And I know y'all probably hate me for my inconsistency and poor grammar and just being a sucky author sometimes, but I'm fixing it :) Promise. Though, I apologize in advance if you all get updates on new chapters while I'm editing the first eleven.**

 **Oh, and three really quick replies cause I've been holding onto these for weeks so that I wouldn't forget:**

 **JDrummond - Though it would have been super cute if she slept in his sweater, I thought it was mildly unrealistic that she would. But I'm glad that I can make you feel emotions so well**

 **Bibliophile102 - Thank you so much! I actually read your review like a dozen times in the past few weeks cause it made me feel all warm and tingly inside :)**

 **Guest - Welcome back! How was BootCamp? I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters and totally dedicating this to you as a welcome home present, late but still**

 **Without further ado, let's get on with it shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: _I do not own Darkest Powers_**

* * *

 **Tension**

"God, I hate math!" Chloe groaned as she let her head fall against the bed.

The sound of Derek sighing deeply followed by the sound of his chair wheeling towards her filled the room. "What are you whining about now?"

Chloe raised her head long enough to level a glare at the dark-haired boy. "I'm not whining, I'm just stating facts. I hate math. And I'm going to fail miserably because this makes _no_ sense."

The school day had ended barely half an hour ago, but she was already in Simon and Derek's room as she attempted to do her math homework in her usual spot on Derek's bed while Derek sat at his desk and read through the stolen student files. It had been a few days since Tori had dragged them all out of bed the morning after the game to tell them how the heist went. Chloe had been surprised to find out that she had gone in alone, but Tori had said that it was the easiest thing ever. She had called in a favor from one of the office hands to get the keys and after putting all the cameras on a loop, she was in and out in a flash. She had also gotten more than she originally planned, copying the records of not only their own school files, but the files of a few other Supernaturals they hadn't even realized were in the school. Suffice it to say, the duffle bag she had brought with her to carry the papers was packed with them. The only problem was that half of the papers were written in some type of code, so Tori was now working on an algorithm to try to crack their pattern and convert it into something useable. The rest of the papers were more or less useless and jumbled together, making them hard to decipher. Every day since they would lock themselves in with the papers whenever they got a free moment in attempts to get as much information as possible.

On the first day, Chloe had ended up claiming Derek's bed as her work station, mainly because there was more space to spread out than on Simon's side. Ever since then, when she worked in their room, she always ended up there as her unofficial official space. Now she was laying across the edge with her math books out to finish her homework. Tori was at computer club while Simon and Liz had disappeared when the bell rang. She had decided to take advantage of the silence and get some of her homework done while Derek looked through another stack of files for what was probably the hundredth time.

"It can't be that bad," Derek muttered, pulling the work away from her. His green eyes scanned over her work, eyebrows inching up. "X squared plus twenty four x plus one hundred and forty-four is a perfect square. Care to explain how you managed to get negative two and positive five instead of twelve?"

Chloe blinked at him, shaking her head. "How do you know it's a perfect square?"

"Twelve squared is one hundred and forty-four," Derek said, an eyebrow inching farther up his forehead. "Don't you know your squares?"

Chloe stared at him for a moment longer and shook her head, taking the paper back from him. Under her breath, she mumbled, "Seriously wish I hadn't given back that math book."

A sudden chuckle from Derek had her head whipping up, her lips tilting up against at the sound for a moment before the realization hit her. She had forgotten about his super hearing and how he had been the one to give her back the book after her unfortunate library eavesdropping. "Come on, it's not that bad."

"Yes, it is. It is the bane of my mathematically challenged existence and I'm going to fail in life because of this."

Derek snorted. "Now you're just being over dramatic."

"I'm a drama student, there is no such thing as over dramatic," Chloe replied as she rolled onto her back and placed the back of her hand over her forehead. "Oh woe is me, destined to redo Algebra in summer school."

"Please tell me that's not how you act on stage," Derek said with a roll of his eyes. Chloe gave him a look and he shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "It really isn't that bad. You're just overthinking it."

"I assure you that when thinking is involved, I'm usually much below average."

Derek's lips twitched as he glanced from his desk back to her before letting out a long suffering sigh. "Fine, I'll help you with your homework."

The way he said it made it seem as if she had been begging him for help rather than him offering it out of nowhere. "I didn't even—"

"You always this ungrateful?"

There it was again. Ever since they had come out of the woods, Derek had been acting more comfortable around her. They had started getting along much better and hanging out more. In English class, she now sat in the seat beside him and worked on their presentation as well. It seemed as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when it came to her and he seemed to be getting more comfortable around her, even smiled from time to time. There were less awkward, tense silences and they were able to be around each other, alone or with the rest of the group, without Chloe feeling like there was some unspoken elephant in the room. The rest of the group had noticed the change as well even before Derek told them that she knew what he was. Simon had been surprised while Tori and Liz seemed to have guessed as much.

The challenge gleaming in his eyes as clearly as it had been in the woods right before he had raced off as he waited for her to respond. Subconsciously, Chloe jutted her chin out just slightly and sat up, holding out her notebook. "Are you going to help me or are you just all talk?"

Derek took the book from her hand and began to explain the question. Chloe was glad that he didn't treat her like an idiot when he explained like other people had when she asked for help. Tori and Liz had mean well, but they had been almost depressively condescending at best and she hadn't learned a thing with them. With Derek, he already knew how bad she was at math from the book that she had checked out from the library as well as when he had just glance over her work. He worked with her in a way that no one else had and she actually started to understand the things he was saying rather than having it mostly go in one ear and come out the other.

She wasn't sure how long they spent but by the end, Chloe actually understood what was going on. They had gone through the majority of the questions together, him explaining her mistakes as they went. As she showed her last question to Derek, she waited with baited breath. He had put so much work into helping her and she didn't want to let him down. But the longer he looked over her work, the more anxious she got. Couldn't he just rip the bandage off? Either she got it or she didn't. "Well? How did I do?"

Nothing could have really prepared Chloe for what happened in that moment.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile that expanded wider and wider with each passing second until it was a full blown, slightly lopsided, smile was staring back at her. "I think you've finally got the hang of this."

Chloe blinked, breath catching in her throat as he extended the book to her. It was the first time that she had ever seen him with a genuine smile on his face. She was still adjusting to the fact that he could actually smile to begin with, and this one had completely thrown her off kilter. It was like she was looking at someone brand new. His face was lit up, chasing away the usual scowl lines and leaving Derek looking younger than before. The smile gave him an almost boyish charm, softening his eyes and causing him to look… so different from the usual grumpy Derek that she had gotten used to. His green eyes danced with something akin to pride and as their eyes locked, she felt her stomach flip.

"Well, aren't you two cozy."

Chloe jumped, whipping around at the voice so fast that she lost her balance and dropped off the side of the bed. She cursed something fierce as she looked up at Mila, who was perched on the edge of the night table. "What did I say about sneaking up on me?"

"I didn't sneak. Actually, I said your name a few times when I got in here," Mila said with a smirk as regarded her on the floor. "But you seemed to be otherwise preoccupied."

For some inexplicable reason, Chloe flushed and her eyes flitted over to Derek. He was watching her with his eyebrows raised, eyes guarded once again. _Well, that moments over_ , Chloe thought sourly as she hoisted herself back onto the bed and glowered at Mila before addressing Derek. "It's Mila. If you didn't already know, she's attempting to stop my heart."

Derek grunted, wheeling back to his desk to look at the files. Mila, on the other hand, moved to sit beside Chloe on the bed. "Not hard when you're jumpier than a virgin at a prison rodeo."

"All right, Blanche Deveraux," Chloe replied drily, rolling her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"I couldn't make contact for a while, something was blocking me. Fill me in."

Chloe quickly filled Mila in on the events of the past week and the problem with the files. While she spoke, the rest of the group started trickling in from their respective clubs. Tori immediately went to Derek's side, speaking in a hushed, rushed whisper. By the time Chloe had finished telling Mila about all the things they had managed to get from the un-coded files, Derek was sitting with his back stiff and Tori had fallen silent. Liz and Simon seemed as clueless as Chloe, having taken up residence on his bed as they waited. She couldn't help but notice that their hands were laced together between their thighs, just out of his siblings' view. Mila gave noticed too and cocked an eyebrow at Chloe in an obvious 'What's going on there?' kind of look, but she merely shrugged in response. First time she was noticing it.

"Okay, we have a problem," Tori finally said, addressing the rest of the group. "Someone else has gone missing."

The words were like lead in her stomach and Chloe exchanged a look with Mila. "Who?"

"Rachelle Rodgers," Tori said with resigned disgust. The name sounded familiar, like something on the tip of her tongue that remained just out of her reach. "She hasn't shown up to class all week, and I overheard her roommate telling a teacher that she hadn't seen her since the football game."

An image of a curly haired copper-skinned girl came into her mind suddenly, and her nose throbbed with the memory of a door slamming in her face. "You mean Rae?"

All heads snapped towards her, but it was Tori's voice that snapped out, "How do you know her?"

"She's in my Media Studies class," Chloe replied unsteadily, rubbing a hand over her face. "Helped me keep Liam off my back. I-I didn't even… I thought she was sick. W-Why would they take her?"

"She's an Exustio half-demon."

"Fire demon," whispered Mila to her and Chloe nodded slowly. "Strongest of three types."

"But that doesn't make sense why they would take _her_ ," Chloe cut in, frowning. "I mean, you said there were way more Supernaturals than we thought, this school included no doubt. But why would they take her, of all people? I thought only people from the experiment were disappearing."

"She was in the experiment." All eyes turned to Derek, but he was busy shifting through the papers on his desk. "I spotted her name in one of the files that I put aside, but I passed it over it. There wasn't anything about her being dangerous."

"If she's not dangerous, why is she gone?" Simon asked with a frown. "Not to mention that this is too early in the year. The pattern goes with one kid a year, right around the time of summer vacations. We haven't even finished midterms yet and someone's gone?"

"So either they're getting careless," Derek said slowly, swiveling to face everyone. "Or they're starting to feel the pressure. They know someone's onto them."

Chloe's gaze flickered to Mila and she looked pale, even for a ghost, eyes concerned. "He's right. They take someone at the end of the school year, or during breaks so that it's less suspicious. This is… it's random. Something's changed."

Chloe relayed the message to the others and then a silence followed that was so tense that she could taste it. For a moment, everything was still and then a sudden violent, shaking tremor went through the entire room. There was a thump as the stack of textbooks on Derek's desk fell over and Liz exhaled sharply, everything stopping as quickly as it had started. "Sorry! I'm sorry it's just… is this our fault?"

"Our fault?" Tori asked. "How could it be our fault?"

"Well, we're the ones who have been snooping around. We're the ones who have been stealing files and hacking into the school. Looking into their plans. Are we the reason that Rae got taken? Are we the reason that they changed their pattern?"

This was followed by another silence, this one longer than the last before Derek spoke. "Maybe. But if they're moving up their schedule, it means we're onto something. Something in these files. So we need to get on this. Tori, how is the decoding coming?"

"It's better, but not perfect just yet. Partial translations. Some guys from the club were helping…"

They stayed in there for hours, talking and trying to decipher the files as they did. Mila hung around, whispering things to Chloe every now and then but mainly keeping to herself on the edge of the bed. Chloe had a feeling that she wanted to talk to her about something, but that she wanted her to be alone to broach the subject, so she didn't push her. Finally, they finished when they realized that Liz had fallen asleep and Tori was quickly following in the same direction.

"Go back to your rooms. We can start fresh tomorrow," Derek grunted, standing up from the desk to stretch, the movement followed by the sound of bones cracking. Simon moved to gently shake Liz awake and Tori yawned, shoving her laptop back in her bag. "We've done all we can for tonight."

The last part was aimed at Chloe, who was busy reading a file. Glancing up, she locked eyes with him for a moment before looking away quickly, shoving the file in with the rest of her things. Silently, she packed away her things from where they were scattered all over his bed. Her mind was still on the file, however, and her a clumsy shove sent her bag tumbling over the side of the bed. She blinked at the contents scattered on the floor, jaw working for a moment as she cursed under her breath. For a moment she considered not picking it up before she shook the thought out of her head, stooping to pick it up.

Chloe was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't even notice that someone was helping her until they grabbed for the same thing at once and she found herself holding onto a rather large hand. Her eyes shot up to meet Derek's green ones again, an unreadable expression on his face. When she continued to stare however, he cocked an eyebrow at her and flicked his eyes down. A blush colored her cheeks as she realized her hand was wrapped around his hand and yanked her own back, skin tingling.

"Sorry," she mumbled, eyeing him uneasily. He merely shrugged, holding out the thing they had both grabbed for. It was the file that she had been reading and instantly she felt herself pale. "Uh, thanks."

Derek nodded as she took it, moving immediately around her to sit down on his bed. Chloe glanced down at the file in her hand again, stomach clenching uneasily. If she had opened it, it would have clearly stated in bold letters her name. Even though they had gotten the files a week ago, she had been scared to look at her own file and petrified that someone else would. She remembered the feeling of fear in her when Tori had explained that she had copied all their personal files to help us see what they saw about us, giving us the advantage. That fear had dissipated almost immediately when Derek had wordless handed it to her while the others were preoccupied with something else. She had been grateful then and she was still grateful now, even though the fact that Derek had already seen her file had left a sour taste in her mouth every time she thought about it. But with Rae suddenly missing, Chloe knew that she couldn't keep pushing it off. She needed any advantage she had, and knowing what they know would be an advantage.

But that hadn't made it any easier to read. She'd barely skimmed through the things that would be on a normal school record like her birthday, grade, courses and such. Her eyes had zeroed in the part that she was dreading the most almost immediately. It had proved to be a more difficult read, half of it hand written notes that looked to be faxed over and containing an overzealous amount of scientific mumbo jumbo, but Chloe forged on. It had been so long since she had actually read about the accident in Buffalo, but it wasn't something that she could ever forget, no matter how much she wished she could. But the more she read, the more it felt like there was a hole splitting apart in her chest. The girl in these files, the girl that they wrote about, that wasn't her. That had never _been_ her. This wasn't the full story. She had reread it more than once, silently willing it to change with each pass of her eyes but it stayed the same. _Was this all I'm going to be remembered for?_ Chloe thought sadly as she shoved the file into her bag and closed it, swinging it over her shoulder as she stood. _For something I didn't do? For something no one will understand because no one believes me?_ Her blood boiled at the thought.

"Night," Chloe murmured, giving her head a sharp shake. "See you tomorrow."

The last part was thrown over her shoulder as she more or less ran from the room and into her own. Taking a deep breath, she leaned her back against the door as it clicked into place and slipped a hand into her pocket. A wave a calm washed through Chloe as her hand closed around the ruby pendant that resided there. For a moment her blood stopped pounding away in her ears and her chest didn't feel as tight, knowing that she was safer with it than without it. Closing her eyes, she let the feeling envelope her.

"It's not right." For once, Chloe didn't jump as Mila's voice abruptly broke the silence of her room. She merely opened wary eyes to regard the girl sitting on the front of her bed in a silent nudge to continue. "Rachelle's disappearance is too sudden. It's too… unplanned and… sloppy. It doesn't fit."

Chloe let the words mull over her for a moment, absently pocketing her pendant once more. "I can see how it's sloppy and varying from the normal pattern but it does still fit. I mean, she's in the files. She's at this school. She's a Supernatural."

"But she isn't dangerous," Mila cut in quickly. "You haven't heard about anyone being burnt or Rae's issues or anything like that have you?"

"Well, no—"

"So that doesn't fit. We were all dangerous, weren't we? Uncontrollable so they had to end us." There was a bitter twist to her voice and Chloe felt a sharp sting at her words. "No one even _knew_ any of us were missing until it was too late to do anything about it. To pull things like that off, you need planning. You need patience. You need to be methodical. This doesn't strike me as someone being methodical, but as someone who that's reckless and doesn't care if people know or not. I mean, if Rae doesn't show up next week, everyone will know something is wrong. Does that fit the pattern?"

Chloe frowned, letting Mila's words run through her mind. The harder she thought, the more she realized that she was right. This really didn't fit in with the pattern, if you could even call what she was thinking of a pattern. From what she could tell from all the information they had gathered, the people taking them were methodical. They never had a set pattern, which made them impossible to time, but they were consistent in the execution. They always covered the bases of making sure that no one knew that someone was missing and that it didn't look out of the ordinary or even made it gossip worthy. Rae disappearing was gossip worthy. She looked up to confirm this with Mila, but the ghost was gone, leaving Chloe with just her thoughts. Something that she didn't want.

That night was the worst since Chloe had gotten to Silverleaf Academy. She tossed and turned, plagued by the thoughts of the day and memories of the past. Even in sleep, she wasn't able to get away from her whirring thoughts, continuing to spin around and around in her head causing her to be restless. But nothing was worse than what happened after her mind settled into a deeper sleep and the dreams came.

"Kari!"

Chloe's shriek echoed as she bolted out of her bed, ready to… do something. What she was ready to do, though, was a mystery to her. Glancing around the room, her sleep filled eyes fought to identify her surroundings. It took her a moment to remember where she was. The feeling of familiarity was soon overshadowed by the feeling of despair that had suddenly overtaken her being. Sitting down heavily on the edge of the bed, Chloe let her head fall into the hands. She might not remember all of the dream, but she remembered enough to know what happened. It was a recurring dream that had haunted her for months while she was still in the hospital. Just the thought of that place had her feeling closed in, the room suddenly becoming much smaller and reminding her how powerless she had been. Her breathing shallowed for a moment and fear gripped her chest for a moment before she remembered that she was no longer there. She was out and she knew that. Chloe knew that there was no reason for her to be feeling this way. But that didn't stop her from putting on her shoes and grabbing the sweater that sat on her desk before she snuck out of the room as silently, and quickly, as she could.

Chloe knew that it was well past midnight, meaning she was breaking curfew by wondering around in the middle of the night, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She needed to get outside. _It's not as if I'll be leaving school grounds or anything_ , she reasoned with herself as she crept down the dormitory stairs, using her phone to light her way. She had paused outside the guys' room for a moment, a fleeting thought of knocking on their door before shaking herself out of it. There was no reason that they had to be woken up in the middle of the night because of her night terrors. So she continued on her own, walking silently past the dining hall and continued in the path she knew would lead to the field. She was almost there when a sudden voice stopped her in her tracks.

"They're in trouble, Emily. We can't just sit here and do nothing."

 _I know that voice._ Chloe turned her light off, creeping towards the end of the hallway and peering around the corner. The hall she peered into was a shortcut between halls, connecting from the one Chloe stood in to on that was closer to the front of the school. The hallway was as dark as the rest of the school, a portion lit by the light streaming out from an open classroom that illuminated the two teachers who stood in front of the door. Her eyes widened as they landed on the person who had spoken, the face unmistakable. It was her English teacher, Mr. Karavan, standing across from a woman with unmistakable orange hair.

"Thomas, you know there isn't anything that we can do without giving them away," Ms. Basher replied, orange hair shifting as a hand moved through it. _What the hell was going on?_ "We have to be patient."

"Being patient is going to get them killed," he argued, folding his arms. "It was fine leaving them in the dark before, but now it's dangerous. They nearly got caught with those file last week! Davidoff knows something is off, even if he isn't the one behind all this, he's getting nervous. With Rae missing—"

"With Rachelle missing, it is more important than ever to not make any sudden moves," she pointed out adamantly. "If we give ourselves away, everything will be lost. We have to think of the kids."

There was a silence. "I am, Em, and that's the thing. They're just kids. We already lost Rae. We need to warn them. "

"And how are we to warn them? I'm a Clairvoyant, not an actual psychic, Thomas. It's not like I can _see_ the future! If I did, do you think any of this would have happened? Do you think that I would have _let_ this happen if I could have prevented it? If I had only known what would have happened before hand?" Chloe's eyes widened at the words, so sharp for her normally joyous teacher. "There is a limit to my powers, just like there is a limit to your own. Especially since with the power dampening spell on this campus so I can't... I just can't."

"I know, I'm sorry," Mr. Karavan sighed. There was a shuffle and Chloe saw the flash of something bright. A phone, possibly. "We can continue this tomorrow. We need to recuperate. I updated the others and they're searching the area for clues as we speak. It's a long shot, but there isn't anything else we can do."

"They will be all right, Thomas. You have to have faith in them."

The words were low enough that Chloe had to lean into to hear them, barely picking them up as they passed through Ms. Basher's lips. Chloe nearly fell over herself when Mr. Karavan suddenly turned, walking away from Ms. Basher and, thankfully, down the opposite end of the hall to where Chloe was standing. _Heading back to the teacher's dorms_ , was the bemused thought that ran through her head as she watched her English disappear down the hall into the darkness. Ms. Basher shifted into the room for a moment and the light went out abruptly. The sound of heels fading away was the only indication that Ms. Basher had followed in the same direction.

After a moment of hesitation, Chloe cautiously moved away from the wall that she was leaning on and started walking through the darkness of the hall in the same direction she had originally set out to follow. It was an afterthought when she finally turned back on the light from her phone, her mind reeling from everything that she had just heard. Her teacher's weren't only Supernaturals, but they knew about her and her friends. She wasn't stupid. Chloe knew that the kids they were talking about were her group of friends. Who else would have the files? The thing that was nagging at her was how they found out and, much more importantly, why hadn't they turned them in? Her teachers had seemed worried for their safety, rather than angry at the kids' thievery, which made almost no sense at all. But when did anything ever make sense in this school? Chloe would just have to tell the others about it tomorrow and they'd work it out together. Memories of her dream were already resurfacing in her brain, making it hard for her to focus on anything else. The hallways around her seemed to be shrinking in around her and her breath caught, a renewed and consuming need to be outside making her speed up the pace.

The moment that she stepped outside, Chloe felt like her lungs were reopening again. The crisp night air filled her lungs as she took a deep breath, letting the breeze tousle her blonde hair around her head. With each exhale, she let out some of the tension that had gathered in her from the moment she had heard that Rae was missing and as she strode further onto the field, she felt lighter. She didn't stray too far from the school, only journeying to the bleachers of the soccer field, though these bleachers were smaller than the ones that surrounded the football field. Moving up to the top of the bleachers, she sat there and leaned back as she closed her eyes. Even closed, the moonlight filtered through her lids with its silvery glow, illuminating even in the darkness. For a while Chloe just sat there and let herself bask in the moonlight. It was a pleasure that she had been deprived of until recently and she regretted ever letting it be taken away from her in the first place. Being outside, being in the open, rejuvenated her in a way nothing else ever had.

A rustle of leaves pulled her out of her head, eyes instantly scanning the place around her. Though Chloe's eyes didn't see anything, she had the distinct feeling that she was being watched all of a sudden. Suddenly, the calming feeling that had washed over her was replaced by a wary vigilance as she realized just how stupid this idea was. Even as her eyes swept across the empty field, her mind was racing with thoughts of regret. Why had she thought coming out here was a good idea? It wasn't safe in the slightest. Rae had only gone missing last week. The people who had taken her could be prowling around right now or, worse, the people who were killing students left and right could be waiting out here assuming that said people weren't one and the same. But that didn't change the fact that she had come out here and made herself a sitting goose.

"Good job, Chloe," she muttered to herself as she stood up slowly and started making her way down the stairs. "Let's go out in the middle of the night and not tell anyone where you are or where you're going and then abducted and killed in the woods."

She had just gotten to the bottom of the bleachers when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. Whipping around, she saw a familiar face leaning against the bleacher with a smirk on his face as her own blue eyes met the cold steel blue eyes of Liam Malloy.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Chloe Saunders."

* * *

 **And there we are.**

 **So I'm hoping that made sense with the last chapter. If you guys think there are any like holes that I didn't fill in, let me know. I always assume that people think how I do, but I'm a crazy person so I see connections where there are none.**

 **I'm not promising when the next one will be out cause my Beta is such a slow reader, but I'm already working on it and the next chapter so I'm hoping it will be real soon. (I found out from a friendly author that having around five chapters ahead always done would help keep a story running smoothly so even if you have writers block, it won't slow down updates. Stupid me doing one chapter at a time. Live and learning from my mistakes.)**

 **Any hoo, I'll stop babbling and let you go. R and R if you please :) Love Brii**


	13. The Past

**A/N: So there's a hole in my roof. Yeah, I cam back from vacation on Sunday at nearly midnight and found out that water had leaked through the ceiling. So that was fun. The roofers are here right now doing more emergency patchwork since it's been raining nonstop. It put me a little off schedule, but I'm still posting in relative time. I spent most of the vacation writing, this and a new AU that I've had swirling around my head. More on that later though.**

 **Thank you to JDrummond, Huntsman-in-the-snow, and Barayah for reviewing :) I love y'all.**

 **Thank you to my silent readers as well, I love you guys too, don't worry.**

 **Disclaimer: _I don't own Darkest Powers_**

* * *

 **The Past**

"Now what are you doing outside by yourself at this time of night, cutie?"

"Don't call me that, Liam," Chloe snapped back. "And what I do is none of your freaking business."

She made a move to step around him and Liam moved with her, his bulky form blocking her path. "Now don't be like that, Saunders."

Chloe glared, folding her arms in front of her chest as a breeze rustled the hair around her face. Of all the people that she could have encountered tonight, she probably should have felt relieved that it was only Liam Malloy who had stumbled across her at this vulnerable time. Considering that her other options were murderers and kidnapper, she really should be. However, as she continued to look at his smirking face, she wasn't able to convey that feeling. Disgust, though, was making a rather timely entrance in its place and venom dripped from her voice as she spoke again. "What the hell do you want Malloy?"

"Just to say hi, of course," Liam said as his smirk widened into a toothy, repulsive grin. "Wanted to make some friendly conversation."

She snorted, rolling her eyes at the statement. There was no way that was the only thing he wanted. "Like hell."

"Never pegged you for a rule breaker," Liam continued as if she hadn't spoken. "But here you are. You're full of surprises, aren't ya?"

Chloe's jaw clenched, internally cursing herself again for being stupid enough to leave the dorms alone. "And you're full of yourself, aren't ya?"

Something flashed across Liam's face, too quickly for her to register but an absent feeling of fear spiked through her and she took a tiny step back. Liam noticed, smiling wider as he tracked the movement. "And quite the attitude you have too. I like that in my girls. It makes it so much more interesting and you, Chloe, are definitely interesting. All blonde hair and blue eyes. I love 'em like that. So innocent. So… breakable."

Chloe scowled, mainly in an attempt to mask the sharp zing of fear his words sent through her. When he had said breakable, she had seen it in his eyes. They had lit up at the word, as if just the thought of breaking her, breaking someone, was what he longed for. And that was enough to ring every alarm bell in her head that wasn't already ringing telling her that she needed to get out of there now. Again, she made a move to get around Liam and again, he followed to block her path. Suddenly, he took a step forward and grabbed her forearm before she even realized what had happened. Even through the sweater she was wearing, she could feel the heat from Liam's hand as his grip tightened. The smile had left his face, his expression dark as his eyes glinted in the moonlight. "Now you can't be leaving so soon. We just started talking."

"L-Let go of me," she gritted through her teeth, clamping down on the rest of the stutter. She couldn't let Liam know how scared she really was. But even as the thought went through her mind, it was too late. His face split into a grin, but this time it was cold and harsh as he regarded her with eyes that seemed to glow. The grin made the panic that she had been trying to push down bubble up, filling her throat for a moment and making her feel as if she were choking on the emotion, only making the panic worse. With the panic came the reminder of her nightmare, which had started to fade away with the night air, and her blood ran cold as it resurfaced at the forefront of her brain.

It felt as if everything was supercharged around her. In that moment, Chloe could feel everything. She could feel the light of the moon on her skin, she could feel the shift of the wind as it tickled the back of her neck, and she could feel the dead in the forest clearer than she had before. Even from this distance, she could feel the dead animals beneath the tress and in the surface of the earth. She could feel her power. And it terrified her. And the more panicked she felt, the more everything started to jumble together into one big thing, pressing against her and suffocating her. Her control was slipping, but as Liam's bruising grip tightened on her forearm, her focus was split between controlling her inner struggle and trying to break free as Liam's bruising grip tightened to around her forearm.

"Pretty girls like you really shouldn't be wondering around in the middle of the night without protection," Liam mused, his drawl lengthening as he spoke. "Seems to me that you need to be protected since you're all alone—"

"Let her go."

Derek's voice came out of nowhere, startling not only Chloe but Liam as well. His head snapped around so fast that it would be comical under any other situation. It took a moment to come back to herself and, using Liam's surprise to her advantage, managed to yank her arm free of his grasp. With speed she didn't know that she had, she bolted away from Liam and towards Derek, where he was walking slowly from the direction of the school. As soon as she was in arms reach, he gently took her hand and guided her behind him so that he was directly in between her and Liam.

"Huh, Chloe never mentioned she had a boyfriend," Liam mused. His voice was light but she could hear anger under it. "Naughty girl. But seeing as it's _you_ , can't blame the girl for keeping it under her hat, can you?"

Derek didn't answer immediately and Chloe peeked out from under his shoulder. He was giving Liam a glare that would make most men cry but Liam wasn't seeming to falter under it at all, even when he said, "Leave her alone, Liam."

"I don't think I can do that," Liam sneered back, eyes travelling over the little bit of Chloe that he could see. "Like I told her, she's just my type. Big blue eyes, blonde hair, and tiny to boot. So… fragile. Just wanna break her."

Chloe felt more than heard Derek's answering growl with how close in proximity they were. It didn't frighten her. Actually, she found it reassuring and hoped it would scare the crap out of the blond in front of them. No such luck, however, as he chuckled at the display.

"Leave her alone," Derek repeated in a low menacing voice. "Or you'll regret it."

Liam held Derek's gaze as he strolled over. Though his pace was leisurely, his body said something completely different. Chloe felt him tense and straighten in front of her, seeming to get even more intimidating as his opponent approached. She, on the other hand, felt absolutely sick watching this and inched closer to Derek, gripping lightly at the edge of his shirt.

"Be careful who you're threatening, _pup_ ," Liam hissed the words at him, eyes glowing with something otherworldly. "Especially when you can't follow through on it."

"I can and will follow through," Derek growled back. "And I'll only say this one more time. Leave her alone."

Liam and Derek stared each other down for another moment. Chloe noticed that though Liam looked older and usually much more dangerous, Derek had him beat in not only size but muscle as well. Whatever Liam saw in his eyes made him falter for a moment, breaking eye contact long enough for another emotion to flash across his face for a moment before he replaced it with a smile, eyes on Chloe.

"Whenever you're ready for a real man, just drop the little boy and let me know, darlin'."

With that, Liam sauntered back towards the school as he passed far too closely by. Chloe watched until she was sure that he was gone before exhaling heavily. She could still feel her power humming on the surface of her skin, pressing down on her, but without Liam's presence it felt like she could breathe again. Turning slowly, she started to find Derek had also turned and was glowering darkly in the direction the other boy had walked off in. He stood stiff, eyes fixed and head tilted slight to the side as if he was listening to something. _He's listening to him walk away_ , she realized as she caught the movement of his hand clenching and unclenching.

"How is it that you always manage to find trouble?"

Chloe started a little as Derek's voice broke the silence between them and she realized that she had been staring at him. Pulling her gaze up, she frowned. "It's not like I go looking for trouble."

"Could have fooled me," he snapped, green eyes blazing into hers. Even with his hair covering his eyes, they glinted in the moonlight and glowed with an otherworldly fire. Almost exactly like Liam's had moment before. "First, you nearly get your throat slit. Then this. What are you trying to do?"

"I'm not trying to do _anything_ , Derek. Despite what you think, I'm not going out of my way to find trouble." Her voice was sharp and she knew it caught him by surprise, but there was no reason for him to think that she was trying to do anything of the sort. "Liam found me, not the other way around. The girl in the alley found me, not the other way around. It's not my fault that psychotic people are attracted to me."

Derek clenched his jaw, mouth opening and closing once before he started again. "Then stop making it easy for them and going off on your own."

His words rang true in her. It was the same thought that she had right before Liam showed up. Hell, even after he had shown up. Chloe knew that she shouldn't have gone off on her own, but that didn't make her any less annoyed at being talked down to like she was an idiot. "I'm not some child, Derek. I don't need someone to hold my hand whenever I want to go for a walk. I can handle myself. I'm not defenseless."

"I know you're not defenseless, but this is different. He's like me. He's a werewolf." Chloe nodded slowly. It made sense. She had expected that he wasn't exactly human, not just because of how much of a scuzzball he was, but also because of the way that he moved. He was almost predatory in the way that he walked and looked. It was graceful, but reminded her of the way a lion looks right before it pounces on its prey. It didn't surprise her at all. "That means he's much more dangerous. If he gets the chance, he _will_ hurt you."

"I know." She remembered the look in his eyes when she had said that she was breakable. It was something that she couldn't forget. The sick, sadistic smile that had curled his lips and sparkled his eyes. Something had crawled inside of her at that sight, and she tried to hide the shiver Derek's word paired with that gave her. She didn't do a good job of it. His eyes tracked the movement, softening as they met hers again. Clearing her throat, she broke eye contact. "Trust me, I know."

They stood together for a moment before a thought seemed to occur to him. "What the hell are you out here by yourself?"

Chloe shrugged uncomfortably. She really didn't want to tell Derek that all this happened because of her inability to be in a small room after her nightmare. Instead she tried to change the subject. "How did you find me? I didn't scream this time."

"I tracked you," Derek said, waving dismissively. "Seriously, Chloe, what the hell are you doing out here by yourself in the middle of the night? You should know better."

"I do, I just…" she trailed off, agitated with the statement. He was such a hypocrite. "I can't believe you're here saying that I should know better when you did the same thing last week."

"That's different."

"Oh really, so it's not okay for me to come out at night but it's okay for you to completely and blatantly disregard your own safety by Changing in the woods without any back up?" Chloe knew she was letting her emotions get the better of her, but she couldn't believe that he had the audacity to tell her what to do when he had gone and done the same thing a week ago. "You can't just change the rules when you feel like, Derek. I _felt_ your pain. You can't defend yourself in that state. We all need to be more careful."

Derek glared at her but she glared right back. She wasn't backing down from this one but she knew he wouldn't either. Something seemed to occur to him, and he frowned at her. "You didn't come out looking for me, did you?"

He sounded horrified by the thought. Whether it was because he thought she was looking for him or that he was the cause of this trouble, she had no idea. It would have been easy to lie and say yes, leave it at that. But she didn't want to lie to him. The thought of doing so made her skin crawl. "No. For some reason, I trust you to come get me next time you're ready to Change. Was I wrong to?"

"No," he replied without hesitation and Chloe nodded. _That's what I thought_. "Then why the hell are you out here?"

"That's for me to know," she said monotonously. "You have your secrets and I have mine."

"You're the one who said no more secrets," he pointed out and she cringed. She had indeed said that, and here she was going back on it. "Chloe, people are being taken. Now is not the time for you to be going off on your own in the middle of the night without telling people. That's how Rae went missing and that's how you'll end up if you aren't more careful. You need to remember that."

"Trust me, I remember that. I don't need to be reminded that Rae took my place. I'm the one who hurt people. I'm the one who people are scared of. I'm the one they were supposed to take." She took a deep breath, glaring at the ground. "But here I am, safe and sound while they have Rae. And you know how I feel? I should feel bad that they took her but I'm relieved, Derek. _Relieved_. I'm relieved that it was her and not me"

Chloe pressed her lips together, horrified by her words. She had been pushing her emotions back, her mind so preoccupied with her memories that she hadn't been able to process how she felt about Rae's disappearance, not really. But as the words slipped out of her mouth, she could feel the truth in them ring her and suddenly all the fight in her had left. She was just tired. Tired of always putting on the brave face and toughing it out. Tired of lying to people closest to her because the truth would frighten them or because they thought she was crazy. She just wanted to let it all out. So she did.

"I get nightmares about Buffalo," she started, shoving her hands into her pockets and averting her gaze. "I used to take sleeping pills, because every night I would wake up screaming her name. But that was a long time ago. This was the first time it happened since I moved here and I just needed to get away. I needed some air and the moon always helped me."

Derek didn't offer anything and Chloe sighed, tugging down the sleeves of the sweater. "It's weird, to think about Buffalo. It seems like it was so long ago, a ghost from a distant past. In reality, it was only two years ago. You've read my files, though, so you know what happened. At least, what the humans thought had happened. Let me tell you the real story and why it keeps me up at night."

"I was in ninth grade when my powers first emerged. Actually, I didn't even realize I was talking to dead people until I found myself in a conversation with the little old lady who across the hall that had died the month prior. Suffice it to say, I was new and telling the difference between human and ghost was hard. So I started to cut myself off from the friends I had made, trying to understand if I was going crazy. It took me almost two months before I finally met a ghost who knew what I was. Her name was Ja-Jacinda." The name made Chloe cringe, having not said it out loud since that faithful day all those years ago. It was stuck in her throat and she had barely been able to get it out. Swallowing hard, she continued. "Jacinda was different than any other ghost I've met, any other ghost I've yet to meet. She called herself a higher being. I'm still not sure what that means, but she knew things. About me, about my family. She told me where to find the book that my mum had left for me. She was there for me when no one else was. She was actually the one who taught me how to release a corpse after I accidentally raised my neighbor's cat in my sleep. I thought she was my friend."

"For a while, everything seemed like it would be okay. I felt so much better because I didn't feel like I was alone. I started hanging out with people again, and I was getting back to normal. It took me a while to realize that I was having blackouts. A lot longer than it should have taken, but that's mainly because when I asked Jacinda, she said that it didn't happen. I was just forgetful. There was always some kind of excuse. It wasn't until I woke up not in my actual body is when I realized that there was something wrong. The first few times, I thought it was a dream. An out of body experience, you know? I would see myself walking around, talking to people. I remember thinking how cool it was. At least, until it wasn't. I didn't realize what was happening until she started hurting people. You see, what I learned about ghost were that they can take over bodies. It takes a lot of energy for them to get in, but if they're able to, they can take full control. So those weren't dreams I was having. I was watching her steal my body. She had planned to completely take me over, bit by bit. Each time she was in me, she was there for longer and longer, trying to sever the final connection I had to my life."

"There are specific things that tether us to life. Our family, our friends, our significant other. The basics. I was less tethered than most people because of my past. My mother died, my father's distant, and I moved around too much to really keep friends long enough to make an impact on my life. That being said, I did have one thing that really tethered me down. My aunt. Despite how overbearing she could be, I love her more than anything. She's the closest thing I'll have to a mom and I'm always grateful for her. She's that Jacinda wasn't able to regain a hold on my body. But she was powerful and I was naïve. I didn't see it coming." She frowned, wringing her hands together. Here it comes, the part that she hated so much. There was a lump in her throat that she was fighting to speak around. "It took Jacinda a while to realize what my link was, she kept trying to severe the ones she knew of in the meantime. One by one, she managed to get rid of my friends in some way. Isolate me to myself while making me think that everything was normal. That was until Kari tried to give me back my necklace."

"I had lost my necklace right before my powers had emerged. It was my mother's and she'd given it to me. I still remember how grown up I had felt when I put it on the first time. The ruby seemed to glow when I wore it. I'd lost it and it had broken my heart. The next week, I started seeing ghosts. Anyway, Kari had found it and cornered her one day to give it back. But the problem was, Kari didn't realize that it wasn't actually me. I didn't either, not really. I thought it was a sort of dream I was having at first. I didn't understand why I was so angry at her, my body. Kari showed her the necklace and Jacinda, well, she didn't even know what it was. That's around the time I came to my senses and Jacinda knew right away that I was onto her. She could feel me fighting for control. And it was all because of that necklace. But she thought that it was because of Kari. She thought that Kari was my last tether, the one that was keeping her from taking control. So sh-she hurt Kari, badly. Jacinda was strong. I don't know if it was because she was a higher being, but she kicked the shit out of Kari. There was no remorse. She beat the girl to a pulp, the entire time telling me how this was my fault. All I had to do was let go and she would be okay. But I didn't know how to. I begged her to stop. I did. I didn't know how to make her stop and I couldn't—I didn't—"

Chloe stopped herself for a moment, drawing in a shaky breath to steady herself. Now that she had started, she had to finish it. "I watched as she nearly killed Kari. Beat her within an inch of her life before she stopped. Jacinda didn't understand why I wasn't letting go. I was on my knees by then. I was trying to tell Kari I was sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen. But I knew she couldn't hear me. She just kept screaming for help, but no one was around to hear her. Jacinda, on the other hand was bored. She was going to move onto the next person, but she stopped for the necklace. She like pretty things, she had said when she reached down to pick it up. But the moment that her hand landed on the pendant, it was like branding iron on my skin. I felt it burn through my palm like a hot poker and suddenly I was me again. I was the one with blood on my hands and Jacinda was now the one screaming outside of my body. She cursed me and fought me, pushing but with the pendant in my hand, it was almost like there was a barrier. So I pushed. As hard as I could, I pushed her away and suddenly she wasn't there anymore. Whether it was to the other side of the world, to a different world, I don't know and I don't care. I just wanted her gone. Afterwards, I got help for Kari and turned myself over. I think she's okay now. She was in Intensive Care for a while, well after I was sent away."

"I didn't talk for the first few days after Kari went to the hospital. I just sat in the corner, clutching at my necklace and waiting for Jacinda to come back. When I realized she wasn't, that when I started talking. I told them the truth because, of course I couldn't have done that. They knew me, I wasn't capable of something like that." Chloe grimaced, looking down at her covered hands. The image of Kari's blood still tainted her skin. She would never be able to wash it off completely. "They didn't bother holding a trial. I was crazy, seeing ghosts and people who didn't exist. I was shipping off to a sanitarium the next day and they took the necklace back. They filled me up with so many pills that I wasn't able to formulate a proper sentence, let alone talk to any ghosts. But when they wore off, I'd try to tell them the truth again. I don't know why, but I did. And when they tried to shut me, I'd fight them. Other times, the pills made me think she was back. Suffice it to say, I snapped. Lost it for a while. I was dangerous. Sometimes I'd get bad enough that I was thrown into the room. It was like solitary. They'd hook me up in a strait jacket and throw me in a padded room for hours. Eventually, I just stopped. Stopped caring, stop feeling and just pretended like I was fine. Like I didn't see what I saw. They chalked it up to early onset schizophrenia triggered by the traumatic experience that I had as a child. I embraced the label, eventually, and they let me out. They said I wouldn't need the pills unless I was having an episode and gave me pills to help me sleep. I tossed the sleeping pills about six months ago. The nightmares don't usually come but if they do, I go out for a walk. Open spaces help. Being inside makes me feel like I'm back in solitary and then my claustrophobia sets in. Since then I've been moved from school to school every few months, usually only until someone finds out about my past and I had to start again. And now you know."

Chloe hadn't looked at Derek since she had started her story, eyes focused on a distant place in the past. Now her eyes flitted up to look at him warily. He was watching her with an unreadable expression but his eyes didn't hold pity or disgust, the usual emotion that she got when she told the truth. The look in his eyes warmed her insides and made her feel less like a carnival side show. He watched her for a long moment before he spoke. "They're idiots."

She barked out a laugh, some of the tension draining out from her. "After all that, that's the first thing you have to say?"

"Anyone that could think that you were capable of this is an idiot," Derek rumbled back. Chloe quirked an eyebrow at him. "If they knew a thing about you, they wouldn't have believed it for a second."

"Well, what can you do when all the evidence says otherwise?" she asked, the words leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. "People see what they want to see. Hell, if I wasn't there I wouldn't have believed me either. I mean, who would believe the monster that nearly beat a girl to death with her bare hands?"

Derek shook his head, agitatedly running his hands through his hair. "You're a good person, Chloe. You're could never be a monster."

This time her laugh was harsh. "Have you seen what I do? I'm a necromancer. I shove unwilling souls back into their bodies. If that doesn't make me a monster, then I don't know what will. And if being what I am isn't enough, I nearly killed my _friend_ with my bare hands. You don't know what that feels like."

"Yes, I do." Chloe's eyes widened at the grim expression on his face as he spoke. "I cracked a kid's head open and put him in a coma for over a year. It's a miracle that he isn't a vegetable."

Chloe was sure that she looked like a gaping fish as her mouth opened and closed, at a loss for words. Finally, she settled on, "I-I didn't know."

"No one does," he rumbled, green gaze hot on her again. "I was underage and my files are sealed. The only people who know are Liz, Simon, Tori, and my dad. And now you."

The surge of pride that went through her at that statement was overtaken by her confusion. "But… what happened?"

Derek's jaw clenched. "I was reckless. Two guys were going after Simon and they didn't want to fight fair. One of them pulled a knife and I acted without thinking, grabbed and tossed him away. His head slammed into the concrete and… I'm lucky. Dad's a lawyer and got the files sealed. But I know what it's like to nearly kill someone, Chloe."

"But… that wasn't your fault, you must know that," Chloe said, brow furrowed. But as she watched his face, she realized that he didn't. The anguish in his eyes was fresh and his entire face was twisted in guilt. "Derek, that wasn't your fault. It was an accident. A terrible accident, but an accident nonetheless."

"Chloe, I took away a year of his life," Derek rumbled and she could hear the pain in his voice. The guilt that rolled off of him in waves, closely followed with self-hatred. "I'm a monster that nearly ended his life. There was a point when they weren't sure if he was going to wake up. He's still brain damaged. And that's my fault."

"You were protected your brother, that isn't your fault!" she insisted but he was far gone in his own head. Laying a hand on his arm, she waited until he looked at her. Chloe could see the storm clouds in his eyes, the past shading him and darkening the usual vibrant light in his eyes. She had seen that look before, in passing sometimes when he was in deep thought and it took her another moment to realize that he must think about this as often as she had thought about Jacinda in the beginning if he really blamed himself. "In the beginning, especially in the first few days that I wasn't talking, I blamed myself. I blamed myself for being stupid but more than anything, I blamed myself for hurting her. For being the monster in the movies that I loved to watch. I had beat someone that I cared about, someone who had been there for me, so badly that she couldn't even eat through a straw. I told myself that I was a monster."

"But that wasn't your fault," Derek cut in, eyes sharp. "Jacinda took advantage of you."

"I know that, but I didn't know that at the time. I would blame myself, beat myself down and torture myself with 'what-ifs' like it would have helped me. It took all those pills messing with my head before I finally realized that all it wasn't me. I had more control over myself doped up on so much drugs that I wasn't capable of thinking straight than I had when Jacinda was beating Kari." Chloe gave him a meaningful look before she continued. "But you're not a monster either. You were protecting your brother. It was an accident. A terrible one, that's for sure, but an accident nonetheless."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't? Well, answer this, what were you thinking when you threw him? Were you thinking about hurting him?"

Derek gave her a hard look. "I was thinking about getting him away from Simon."

"Exactly, that's my point." And it was. He hadn't been trying to hurt the kid. Derek had reacted on instinct and it had been a horrible accident. "It wasn't your fault. I don't think you're a monster. You saved your brother, which makes you kind of a hero in my book."

Derek frowned, apparently at a loss for words at the moment as her words hit him. Shrugging, she pulled back her hand, pushing it into her pocket. She felt lighter now that she didn't have that story pressing on her chest. She hadn't thought that it would feel this good but she did, for once, feel awesome. She felt free and she felt safe. He hadn't called her crazy or been repulsed by her. He'd opened up himself and told her something about himself that she hadn't known. He had trusted her. The thought made her smile.

"I'll come with you next time."

"Huh?"

Derek shoved his hands in his pockets, eyes scanning the field around them. "Next time you need to get some air, come get me. Instead of going off on your own. It's safer."

"You would come out with me?" Chloe asked incredulously and Derek nodded, eyes meeting hers unerringly. "Yeah, okay."

They stood in silence for a moment before Chloe realized two things. The first was that the temperature had steadily been dropping, and she was starting to see her breath in the air. Secondly, Derek was standing in front of her in just a short sleeve. "You're going to freeze."

"I'm fine," Derek replied, his voice relaxed. "Plus, you're the one whose lips are turning blue."

"And you're the one who standing here in a short sleeve. You need a sweater."

"Are you offering to give it back?" Derek asked with a cocked brow. Chloe frowned in confusion and he smirked in return. "Never mind, let's get inside."

"But what did—"

"Come on."

Chloe wasn't entirely sure what he was smirking about, but she was distracted by the sudden thought of entering the school again. It didn't fill her with anxiety like it usually would, but it reminded her of earlier with the teachers. As they were walked she recounting the conversation that Ms. Basher and Mr. Karavan had had before she had left the campus. By the time they had made it up to the rooms, she had filled him in on all her theories about who they were and what this could mean. Derek hadn't spoken much, but he had an expression of deep thought on his face as he leaned against her doorframe.

"You're right. I don't think they're working with the St. Cloud's or the kidnappers," Derek said finally. "But there's another party at play and I don't like not knowing. We'll need to keep an eye on them."

Chloe nodded, unlocking her door absently. But when she pushed it open, she hesitated. Her mind travelled back to the night a week ago when she and Derek had walked back together, them stopping at his door rather than travelling down to hers. A thought hit her and her eyes travelled over to her desk where she had placed his sweatshirt before she had gone to bed that night. The sweatshirt that she had given back. The sweatshirt that she was wearing right now.

"Oh."

"You okay?"

Chloe's eyes travelled away from her desk to meet the green eyes that were currently swirling with concern. "I'm wearing your sweater."

"Yeah?"

He said it like it was normal, which it was definitely not. She had forgotten to give it back, she had been so caught up with the files and her math midterm. "Sorry. Give me a second and I'll give it back."

"Keep it." Chloe frowned, about to protest and he shook his head. "Chloe, seriously. Keep it."

Chloe frowned, but let it slide for now. She was actually really tired. "I'll see you in the morning, right?"

Derek nodded, straightening. But he hesitated, glancing over his shoulder before his eyes caught hers in a burning stare. "Chloe, if Liam tries anything—"

"You'll know," she finished. And she meant it. Even though Rae had helped her fend off Liam, no one had been able to help her get him away from her like Derek had. "I promise."

Derek looked relieved. "Good."

"Night, Derek."

"Good night, Chloe."

And with that, he walked back to his room and as Chloe closed her door, she felt lighter than she had in months.

* * *

 **So that was pretty intense, yeah? I thought it was pretty intense. At least writing it was. I'm really proud of this, though. I'm going to say this is the chapter I'm the proudest of and I really hope you like it. I know you guys were like chomping at the bit to know what had fucked with Chloe so much that she was like this after Buffalo. I'll admit that it's kind of dark, but it needed to be done, I think.**

 **Count down on chapters, we're down to the final four. Might add in a fifth later on, but I'm currently set on four.**

 **But yeah, if you enjoy I definitely want to know. If you hated, I want to know too. Any review is good in my books :) Anyways, R and R if you please and thank you for reading.**

 **Toodles ~ Brii**


	14. Realizations

**A/N: So I'm not dead. I also haven't given up on this story. I just... might have lost the USB holding the only copy of the SJF chapter files so I had to start from scratch. Usually not a problem, cause I only do one chapter at a time. This time I did three, which was a lot of time and sweat so I was pissed about losing them. And I'm a perfectionist so trying to rewrite them only caused me to stress and nearly give up on the story because I was trying to write them exactly like the ones I lost and I couldn't do it word for word which just made me super frustrated. Suffice it to say, I had to take a breather and come back to write these from scratch. It kind of put me way off track because now I've lengthened the story a bit so how many chapter to go may have changed. But enough with my sob story, I owe you guys a chapter.**

 **Thank you to all my reviewers. JDrummond, starefire31803, Barayah, Forever Summoning, Guest 1, Guest 2, and stresscat666, I mean you guys. You're awesome and I read your reviews often. They encouraged me to keep going. Thanks to my non-reviewing readers as well. I wouldn't be here without y'all either.**

 **Start your engines, here we go...**

 **Disclaimer: _I do not own Darkest Powers_**

* * *

 **Realizations**

"You're still here?"

The sound of the door opening should have alerted Chloe to the other presence in the room, but it had barely registered in her mind. She chalked it up to the fact that she was concentrating on the stupid math problem Derek had given her. Either way, the sound of Simon's voice startled her enough that she nearly tipped over in the chair and let out an undignified half shriek before she was able to right herself. The low rumble of Derek's chuckle reached her ears a second later and she tossed her eraser at him despite the smile that pulled at the corners of her lips. He easily caught it, eyes still glued to the screen of his laptop as she glanced over at Simon. "Hey, Simon. Yes, I'm still here."

"Hey, Princess, didn't mean to startle you." Chloe rolled her eyes at the nickname, the one that had apparently seemed to stick with him since they had come back from town. It didn't make her blush anymore, thankfully. Out of her peripheral, she watched as Derek's head finally rose to look away from his laptop. "You've been up here since breakfast. What are you working so hard on?"

"Math," she replied bitterly. Simon winced, leaning over her shoulder to get a better look. "Derek's helping me study for my midterm."

"Seriously?" Simon straightened to stare at his brother, who grunted as he went back to whatever he was doing. "How'd you manage that?"

Chloe shrugged, swiveling around in her chair to face Simon fully. "Derek offered."

And he had. They had been walking back from breakfast together and he had asked her what she had planned for the day. When she told him it was more studying for the math midterm she had on Monday, he'd offered to help her work through the rest of the units, which she had gratefully accepted. And Derek had managed to help her understand three out of the five units in the last few hours, so Chloe wasn't dreading the test as much anymore. Simon had left just after she had shown up, heading down for breakfast with Liz.

"He what?" Simon asked, his voice pitch higher than she thought was healthy. "I couldn't even get you to look over my Bio homework!"

"That implies that you actually did your homework, which you did not," Derek rumbled. "Besides, she isn't as annoying as you."

Chloe stifled a giggle behind her hand at the mock outrage that flashed across Simon's face. He clutched his hands over his heart, face twisting comically. "You wound me, brother."

"You're an idiot." Simon made a hurt noise, pretending to stagger backwards and the giggle that she had been holding in broke the silence. Derek did glance up then, jewel-toned eyes zoning on Chloe's easy smile as she watched his brother. "Don't encourage him."

Chloe held up her hands, smile still very much intact. Derek merely rolled his eyes at her, though she noticed the way his lips twitched slightly like he was fighting a smile. Her own smile widened but she shrugged, gesturing to her paper. "Can you check this over? I think I'm done."

Derek placed the laptop beside him, moving to the foot of the bed as he took the papers. Her gaze lingered for a moment on him as his full attention shifted from her to the paper. She was grateful that he had offered to help her study. _Something he wouldn't have done a couple of weeks ago_ , a little part of her mind pointed out. Chloe smiled, thinking about how far they'd come since then. She had told him the truth, not very easy for her to do all things considering, but she had done it. And he'd even given her something private about himself too. Every time she thought about it, her head felt light with how happy it made her. Whether it was because she was finally able to tell someone the whole truth and having them believe her or that Derek had trusted her with his own dark past, she wasn't exactly sure.

It took her a moment to realize that she was staring at Derek, cheeks warming slightly as she cleared her throat and turned away to look at Simon. He had moved to his desk, shifting papers together. "Where's Liz? I thought you guys were going to hang out after breakfast."

"Hmm?" Simon looked up distractedly for a moment before continuing his search. "We did."

"You guys ate pretty fast."

"Not really. It's been like two hours," Simon pointed out and Chloe's eyebrows rose. _Guess I lost track of time_. "The witch called her about something super important a little while back though, so Liz had to run."

"She has a name, Simon," Chloe reprimanded as she glanced back at Derek. He was scribbling something at the bottom of her page. "You should probably use it."

Simon waved the suggestion away, eyes focused on his desk for a moment before he turned around and leaned his hip against the side. If Chloe had been looking closely, she would have seen the wicked glint that appeared in his eyes. "I ran into Nate on the way up. He mentioned you."

"Me?" A nod. "Why would he mention me? I've never even met him."

"He said you have drama together."

"Needle, hay stack," Chloe replied, making Simon chuckle. "There has to be at least three Nate's in the class."

"Red hair. About the same height as me."

Chloe blinked at him. That should have been helpful, it really should have, but she couldn't for the life of her remember a redhead in her drama class. As she continued to rack her brain for an image of the Nate he was talking about, there was a hard series of knocks at the door. Simon excused himself to get it, leaving her to her thoughts and Derek to his corrections. _Red hair and Simon's height_ , she thought as she mentally scanned through the guys in her class. No one that she worked with fit into that description. There weren't any redheads in her drama class, at least in the junior section. It was frustrating her far more than she wanted to admit because she was usually pretty good with faces.

"Here, fix these," Derek's voice broke into her thoughts and she swiveled around to look at the paper he was holding out. "Try these steps and see if that one is easier."

"Okay, yeah, thanks," she murmured, looking over the paper. She zoned in on his writing, a slanted but neat series of letters and numbers beside her own. Absently reaching out, she groped around for where she had placed the pencil and came up empty. Looking down at the desk, or the hurricane disaster she had made of it, she went on a hunt for her pencil. "Where the hell did the pencil go?"

"Chloe?" She paused, looking over at him even with her hand halfway in the other direction. He had a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he reached out and plucked it from where it was resting behind her ear. She smiled as she took back the pencil from his outstretched hand and turned to her work, tapping the pencil against the desk as she stared down at the paper. Though her eyes remained on the math problem, her head was gone back to the roster in her drama class. _Red hair? Who the hell has red hair?_ She was so far gone that she didn't realize Derek was speaking to her again until his hand clamped over hers to stop the tapping. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered immediately. His answering look said he didn't believe her and she opted for a smile, albeit a small one. "Seriously, I'm fine. Just thinking."

Derek didn't say anything for a moment, eyes probing hers as he assessed her words. She met his gaze steadily, feeling her previous frustration leaking out as she kept staring into his beautiful eyes. _Beautiful?_ Chloe mentally scowled at herself. When did she start calling Derek beautiful? That was not the word she had been going for. _Gorgeous? Hot? Sexy?_ The same part of her mind supplied even as she shot them down immediately. When had she come to associate Derek with any of those words? A blush was starting to color her face now and she knew the moment that he noticed, the curiosity in his eyes swimming to the forefront of the swirl in front of her. But instead of the intensity of the look setting her on edge like it used to, it just made a strange warmth flowed through her and settle in the pit of her stomach as she stared back at him. The lightness from last night was settling in her head again and she felt tingly all over. _Okay, maybe beautiful was—_

She never got to finish the thought as Tori's voice suddenly erupted, rather loudly, "We're here and we have news."

Chloe jumped and Derek's head snapped up, breaking eye contact and effectively ending their moment. His hand immediately moved off of hers and he shifted back in the bed. She grimaced as the feeling of cold immediately descended on her hand. Absently she rubbed the back of it, cheeks flaming as she turned. Tori didn't seem to notice their sudden tension, however, she was preoccupied with setting up her laptop on Simon's desk. Liz walked in barely seconds after, throwing a smile in their direction before perching herself on Simon's bed.

"Is it done yet?" Tori asked, eyes still glued to her laptop. "I mean, if I did it, it would have been done already. Why am I not doing it again?"

"Because I'm better at silencing spells than you are," Simon replied smugly as he walked into the room. "Plus, my spells aren't as unstable as yours."

"My spells aren't unstable! It was one time and an accident, for fuck's sake! Let it go!"

"You nearly set me on _fire_!"

"Enough!" Derek boomed, causing all heads to turn in his direction. He had moved away from her and was sitting facing Liz on the side of his bed. "Why did you need a silencing spell?"

"You're not the only one in the school with advanced hearing," she replied tartly with a glower at Simon. "Better safe than sorry at this point."

"So what's so important that you had to put up a silencing spell," Derek asked, eyebrows pulling together.

"Look for yourself."

An hour later, Chloe sat down on the edge of Derek's bed with an exhausted sigh. Her head hurt and she was confused as hell. Tori had managed a partial translation of the file, managing to get about half the information decoded. But between all the scientific words and missing information, she wasn't sure what she was reading. The most she could figure out was that there was more than one experiment. There was the Genesis II Project, which they had explained was what the school had called their project, and the Phoenix Project, the experiment that they had no clue existed until about an hour ago.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Simon said as he paced around the room. "According to that file, the kids that are getting killed aren't just from the Genesis II Project. They're also from this Phoenix experiment that we've never heard about before today?"

"It makes sense," Derek rumbled as he sat down heavily in his desk chair. "The age difference was always questionable. It didn't make sense that there would be a six-year difference between some of the subjects. The Genesis II Project was focused on altering DNA before birth, but for us all to be part of the same experiment, some of these kids would have had to be toddlers to be part of this when the experiment begun. Two different experiment pools make sense."

"Spoken like a true mad scientist," Tori mumbled and he glared at her. She merely shrugged, absently drumming her fingers against the desk. "But you're right, it does make sense. And the few names that I've gotten from the Phoenix list match up with the outlier victims that have disappeared. Hold on let me—here. Brady Hirsch, Mila Andrews, and Rafael Martinez. They're all Phoenix Project subjects and they're all victims. There are links to articles on their deaths. We basically have the victim list right here."

"What if we do?" Liz asked from where she sat on Simon's bed. "Have the victim list, I mean. Doesn't it seem a little suspicious that they put all the dead kids into one folder?"

"I'm going with Liz on this," Simon said. "The school, the people who funded it, are the only ones who know about both of these experiments. So they have to be behind it, right?"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Chloe interjected. Her mind was reeling with new information but something had stuck out to her while she read. "There was a line in there that said, 'if subjects are deemed dangerous or unstable, they will be terminated as humanely as possible'. Mila was tortured and asked for names before she was finally killed. Names from _both_ projects. That doesn't fit their M.O. at all. Why would they ask her if they already have all the information right here?"

"Because maybe they didn't?" Simon asked, stopping in front of her. "They couldn't find us. Dad took us and bolted as soon as he could when he saw what was going on. Maybe the same happened with some of the others. If Mila did that too, they might have thought she knew where the rest of us were and tortured her for locations."

A heavy silence followed his words at the implications. Chloe swallowed, shaking her head once. "But Mila never disappeared. She lived here her entire life. And she was trained here. I don't think she was ever really out of the system because she didn't know about the experiments or the other kids. She didn't even know that she was in danger until it was too late. So why would the school take someone who they'd been observing for years?"

"They wouldn't," Derek replied with a frown. "We're missing something."

"What could we possibly be missing? All the information is pointing back to the school. They're the ones who know of everyone in both experiments," Tori pointed out, wiping a hand over her mouth. "They're the ones that have the list of dead kids in one file that was encrypted so well that even I'm having trouble decoding it. They're the ones that keep bringing more in, despite the fact that they must know it's their experiments that is being killed off one by one. If they're not the killers, which I still think they are, then they must at least be helping them or they wouldn't have made us such easy targets. It's like shooting fish in a barrel."

The others seemed convinced by her words, though Chloe couldn't help but feel like there was another reason behind it that was staring them in the face. There was no way to deny that Tori's words were true, but there _was_ something missing. Tori, Simon, Derek, and Liz had made it through their entire high school career at this school without incident. If the school was aiming to kill of subjects, wouldn't they be the dead too by now? She had more questions than answers and it frustrated her to no end that she couldn't fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. Question after question popped into her head, weaving a maze of confusion until she was ass backwards in her head looking for answers.

"It just doesn't make sense," Chloe mumbled as she rubbed a hand over her forehead. "I don't think any of it will make sense until the file is decrypted."

"I'm working as hard as I can, but for a school they have a pretty intense encryption," Tori said in frustration, tapping her fingers on the desk. "For all I know, it's has a three-block encryption, which I can't crack. But I'm thinking they encrypted the encryption, which—"

"We don't need details, we just need to know if you can do it," Derek interrupted sharply. "Can you?"

"I can. It's just… going to take a bit more time than I planned."

Derek didn't look convinced, and frankly, neither did Tori. But Liz immediately interjected, "You'll do it. I know you can."

Tori smiled gratefully at her and Liz smiled back brightly. Chloe was reminded once again just how amazing the other blonde girl was. Despite everything that was going on, her first instinct was still to think positive. It was kind of refreshing knowing that despite everything, Liz's bubbly personality and faith in the human race hadn't been tainted. Tori cleared her throat, eyes moving back to her adopted brother. "So what do we do now?"

"There isn't really anything we can do until the file is decrypted," Derek replied with a sigh. "We can't get in contact with Dad either, so we don't have any choice other than laying low until we know what that file says. Stay low and stick together."

And that's exactly what they did. They stayed in the room for probably another hour before Derek's stomach was making it clear that if they didn't get out for lunch, he was going to start to eat them. Chloe was thankful for the excuse to get of the room if she was being absolutely honest with herself. She loved to hang out with her friends, she really did, but the tension that was in that room had been so thick that she was basically choking on it. Plus, she hadn't stopped thinking about the file. She couldn't figure out what they were missing but she was running herself up a wall trying to figure it out. Her head had already started to throb steadily by the time they had gotten to the dining hall.

"You okay, Princess?"

Chloe started, nearly choking on the sip of water she had taken. Sputtering out a cough, she nodded at Simon. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You've barely touched your food," he pointed out, almond eyes focused on her. "And you've zoned out for like the tenth time in five minutes. What's eating you?"

"Nothing," she replied quickly, eyes flitting away. "I'm fine, just a bit of a headache is all."

"Oh, Chlo, do you want some painkillers?" Liz asked worriedly, already making a move to get up. "I have some in my locker. I could get it and be back in like—"

"No! No, I'm fine really." Chloe gave her worried friend a smile, hoping it was believable. "I'm just in math overload. You were saying something about cheerleading practice?"

Liz hesitated for a moment but she couldn't stop herself from going back to her story on the squad's latest practice. Something about drama and someone fighting with someone else's base, whatever that was. She really didn't have any idea what the girl was talking about. She was an ex-gymnast, not an ex-cheerleader. The term didn't really apply to her. But she tried to follow along as best as she could to the story. Chloe was just starting to really get into it when the hairs on the back of her neck seemed to stand on end and she got the sudden feeling that she was being watched. Eyes immediately scanning the crowd, she searched for the source. Her initial scan came up empty. Nobody was even looking in her direction. As instantly as the feeling had come, it vanished and she had to shake off the new feeling of unease that was starting to settle in her stomach as she focused again on her friend's story.

"They seriously got into a fist fight over _that_?" Tori asked in disbelief. She had gotten over the funk that not being able to easily decode the file had gotten her into and chomping at the bit over this gossip. "I can't _believe_ that she would—"

"Si!" All heads in the room turned towards the newcomer, his flaming hair falling into his eyes as he made his way to us. Chloe recognized him instantly as the announcer from the pep rally. Though his voice sounded a little different now than then, his flaming red hair and cute face were unmistakable as he smiled over at Simon. "I've been looking for you."

"Hey, Nate," Simon greeted and they bumped fists. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just returning this." Nate placed something on the table beside Simon and it took her a moment to recognize something that looked like a really expensive, pocket-sized pencil case. "You left it this morning."

"I've been looking everywhere for this!' Simon exclaimed, picking up the case and stroking it reverently. "You're a life saver."

"So I've heard." The reply was dry. Nate nodded greetings to the rest of the group before his eyes landed on Chloe and his eyebrows rose slightly. "Hi."

"Hi," Chloe replied, suddenly shy. She shifted slightly in the seat as he kept watching her. "I'm Chloe, nice to meet you."

"Uh, Chlo, you've met him before. In drama." Chloe frowned at Liz and the girl looked at Nate thoughtfully for a moment. "Well, actually, you guys probably never officially met. He's in the senior class and we didn't really mingle as much after the first few weeks, and you came after then so... yeah, maybe not. But you guys should totally get to know each other! Nate's pretty awesome and he's cute to boot. Don't you think, Chloe?"

Nate's face was slowly turning the color of his hair and Chloe was sure that she was as well. Tori just shook her head at her over enthusiastic friend. "You're embarrassing him, Liz."

"What? No way! You know you're cute, don't you, Nate?" Nate's face was definitely now the same shade of red as his hair. Liz didn't seem to notice as she continued. "Well, if you don't, you should know that we all think you are. Well, the girls do. I don't know about the guys. I mean, it's cool if they do think you're cute, I'm not saying it's not, but I don't know how guys think because, well, I'm not one. But here, let's ask Simon and Derek. Do you guys think he's cute?"

Chloe glanced at Derek and he was staring at Liz with a look that a month ago she would have called completely blank, but now could see hints of irritation laced through it. It took her a moment to realize that the look wasn't directed to Liz but directed at the red-headed boy standing behind her. Unbeknownst to the rest of the people around the table, he had tensed the moment that Nate had shown up and hadn't relaxed yet.

Simon, on the other hand, was staring at her with a look of adoration mixed with bewilderment. Tori and Chloe exchanged a knowing look over his shoulder and shook their heads. It had been clear for a while that Liz and Simon had feelings for each other. They were always together and when they were, they were always touching. The hand holding from yesterday hadn't gone unnoticed by Chloe and she made a mental note to ask the other blonde if they were official or not when she got her alone. Though she knew that Tori wouldn't mind them dating, and that Derek didn't care, she didn't want to force the two into the spotlight if they were trying to keep it on the low. Considering that it wasn't school gossip at this moment, she had a feeling that that was how they wanted to keep it for the moment.

"I feel like there is no good answer to that question," Simon finally said with a shake of his head. "How about we go onto something different, yea?"

"Actually, I just stopped by give you that," Nate said awkwardly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Maia said she saw you head down here so I took a chance. I tried your room earlier too, but I guess you weren't back yet."

Simon coughed, clearing his throat. "Nah, I was just taking a nap. Thanks for giving these back though."

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you guys." His eyes skipped from around the table before landing on Chloe again, his blue eyes bright as he smiled at her. He really was cute. "It was nice to officially meet you, Chloe."

"Yeah." Chloe blushed and smiled back at him. "You too."

And with that, Nate turned and walked off. He had barely gotten out of hearing range before Liz started gushing at her.

"He so likes you!"

"Huh?" Chloe frowned, looking from Nate's retreating form to her bouncing friend. "He was just being nice."

"You're an idiot," Tori responded, eyes back on her phone. "He likes you."

"I never thought I would say it, but I have to agree with Tori," Simon said. He actually did look a little green as the words escaped his mouth. "Nate's usually much more relaxed than that. He was nervous as hell just now. Probably why he wouldn't shut up about you this morning."

"Wait, what? He was talking about her this morning?!" Chloe was actually worried for Simon in that moment. He looked worried too. Liz looked absolutely outraged that she was hearing this for the first time. "Why was I not informed of this earlier? Of _course_ he wouldn't stop talking about her if he likes her!"

"Well, I didn't really know for sure, did I?" Simon replied, inching away from her. He was sitting on her right while Tori filled the seat beside her. Derek and Chloe were sitting across from them and she actually felt bad for him. "And I would have told you! But you guys came barging in and we got a little sidetracked with something else."

Liz and Simon continued to argue, Tori adding in her own two cents every here and then as they went. Chloe watched in bemusement. All this because they thought someone liked her? She wasn't sure if she should feel flattered or overwhelmed. A bit of both, if she was being honest with herself. Nate was cute and all, but the thought of him liking her made her rather uncomfortable. Not like when she thought about Liam, but more like when Simon had flirted with her and she had thought that he was actually into her before she had realized about him and Liz. They were both all-American poster boy types. They were cute but she couldn't see herself in a relationship with a _cute_ guy anymore. Before she started seeing ghosts, she would have had no problem dating someone like Nate. Hell, she would have been excited that someone as cute as him would even look her way. To say that she wasn't a hit with the boys was an understatement. She was always the girl who was asked if _her_ friend was single. Two years ago, if they were having this conversation she would have probably been internally jumping for joy over the fact that a cute, older boy was interested in her. But now that she was seeing ghosts and after everything that she had done since then, she just felt like that wasn't really her anymore. Not that she really had a type or anything, but she couldn't help but feel like Nate just wasn't the right guy for her for some reason. Like taking a step backwards rather than moving forwards.

Suddenly, the feeling of being watched had the hairs on the back of her neck on edge again. Back stiffening, she straightened and slowly let her eyes rove over the crowd around her. Her eyes scanned for anyone looking in their direction but she was coming up with nothing. She was about to give up, figuring it was just her overactive imagination until she found herself looking into the cold steel blues of Liam's eyes.

"Shit."

The word was barely a breath out of her mouth and she hadn't meant to say it, but it felt like all the blood in her body had run cold. There was a predatory gleam in his eyes as he watched her from a few tables down. If it had been anyone else, she would have said that she was imagining it, but Chloe knew that his eyes were focused on her. She could see the same wicked grin on his face from the night before and the hard edge to it that had set her stomach twisting into knots. His eyes broke away from hers to roam over the rest of her body and even from as far away as she was sitting, she could feel his gaze roam over her body again. She could barely hold back the shiver as a chill ran up her spine as his eyes met hers again and instinctively went to finger the bruises that he had left on her forearm the previous day. That only made his smile widened. He knew that he was setting her on edge. But she couldn't take her eyes off of him. She was scared that if she looked away that when she looked back, he'd be gone. And him disappearing was almost as bad as him being there to begin with.

Liam's eyes shifted up and his smile dropped, his mouth pressing into a hard line as he stared with intense disgust at whatever he was looking at. Chloe nearly jumped at the sound of a growl rumbling from beside her and her head snapped around to look at Derek. He was glaring over her head in the direction where she knew Liam was and she knew that he was the reason that Liam wasn't smiling anymore. The look on his face was dark and once again, she knew that if looks could kill, Liam would have dropped dead. The growl had increased to a continuous rumbling, akin to an engine, and Chloe glanced at the rest of the rest of the student body to see if anyone else had noticed but nobody had. It was like it wasn't even happening. She glanced around the table, sure that they at least could hear it, but they hadn't stopped their argument on whether Nate liked her or not. _What the actual hell is going on? Do they not hear Derek growling?_ It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't actually hearing it, but feeling it in a similar way that she had felt his pain the night that he Changed. Something that she still hadn't told him. This was different than when she felt his pain though. His pain had hit her like a brick, something heavy and thick and so intense that she couldn't even think. This was different. It was a low vibration that seemed to buzz in her ears and vibrated in the air. It was different… but the same.

She filed it away for later, making a note to ask Derek about it, while shifting her gaze from him back to Liam. He had levelled Derek his own dark look and it seemed that they were having some kind of stare down. Though Derek's look had been dark, she hadn't been scared of it. Liam's, though, made her want to shit her pants. He looked like a predator. He looked like a killer. And that was enough to make her shrink back slightly towards Derek, just enough that her side brushed his. A moment later, something in Liam's look changed and he looked confused for a moment before his face lit up with something akin to victory. Chloe cringed slightly and the growl in her ears got louder for a moment before cutting off.

"We're leaving," Derek rumbled, the remainder of his food forgotten as he picked up her tray along with his own and stood up. "Let's go."

"Derek?" Simon asked, brow creasing as he watched his brother walk away to dump the trays. "What's gotten into him? He hasn't even finished his food."

"I-I, uh, d-don't know?" Chloe stammered, pushing away from the table and standing up. "But I-I'll go with him. I-I should keep studying anyway."

She rushed after Derek before anyone could say anything else. She was actually proud that she didn't stutter more. It was a blatant lie that she had told them and she hated lying to her friends, mainly because the stutter gave her away. But she had other things on her mind as she hurried to catch up to Derek who was no taking long strides to the door and ushering her through it almost faster than she could move. They walked in silence back to the dorm, both tense as they travelled up the stairs. But when she made a move to stop at his room, he placed a firm hand on her back as he led her to her own room and impatiently waited for her to open the door. The moment it was open, he had them inside and had the door locked behind them. He stood there for a moment, head bowed with his back to her. She had no idea what was going on.

"What was that back there? Some kind of werewolf stare-down or something?" Chloe asked, her tone trying for light and failing. Derek didn't answer and she sighed. "Seriously, what the hell, Derek?"

"Shut up."

"What? You can't—"

"Stop talking, Chloe."

Silence lapped between them, Chloe seething and Derek doing whatever he was doing. After a few moments, he let out a sigh, some of the tension in his shoulders leaving as he turned to face her. "Okay."

"That's all you have to say? Okay?" Chloe asked, incredulously. "None of that was okay! I have a creepy, pyscho-stalker werewolf following me around and you were growling like no tomorrow and—"

"I wasn't growling."

"Not out loud." Derek looked at her in confusion and she made an irritated dismissive motion. "Doesn't matter. What matters is what the hell happened down there and what the hell were you just doing!"

"I was making sure he didn't follow us," Derek responded in an even tone, leaning back against the door. "As for earlier, that was me finding out that last night made things worse, not better for you."

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"That means that he's on a hunt," Derek said sharply, eyes glinting dangerously. "He sees you as prey and me as competition. I knew that once he sets his sights on someone, he didn't give up easily, but this is a game to him. He sees you as some kind of… prize or something that's even better because he thinks he's taking it away from another werewolf. You have to be more careful now than ever because he's capable of anything and he'll hurt you."

"You think I don't know that?" Chloe yanked up the arm of her shirt, revealing for the first time to someone else the five ink black blotches that ran up her forearm where Liam had grabbed her. "I'm well aware that he will hurt me, Derek. I have the proof right here."

This time, the growl that she heard actually came from his chest and vibrated up through his whole body. Slowly, he reached out and ran his fingers over the marks, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin. He pulled back a moment later, and Chloe let out a breath she hadn't known that she was holding. "I'm going to kick his ass."

"That wouldn't be keeping a low profile, would it?" Chloe shot back and he frowned. Either he didn't like that she was using his words against him or he didn't remember. She would guess the former. "We don't need any more attention. I mean, what if the killer doesn't even know that you're part of the experiment. You don't want to get into their sights by going toe to toe with another werewolf. I'll be fine."

"The school already knows about me."

"And there's still a possibility that the school isn't the killer. Slim but still. We're playing it safe, right?"

"I'll take my chances."

"Yeah, but you don't want to bring attention to the rest of us either, right?"

Derek frowned, jaw clenched as he stared at her arm. Slowly, she pulled down her sleeve but she could still feel his gaze burning a hole into her arm. She felt more like a freak show than anything else with his eyes on her like that and she shifted uncomfortably, folding her arms over her chest. He said nothing, eyes moving from her to stare into a corner of the room for a moment before nodding slowly. Chloe didn't know what else to say, nodding her head in acknowledgement before sitting down on her bed. She still felt absolutely gross from Liam checking her out in the dining hall, but her lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her. Her forehead was still pounding and all she wanted to do was go to bed. Sighing, she rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes.

"You're tired."

"Aren't you?" Chloe shot back, though it was lacking the energy it usually would. The tension and fear had quickly drained from her system along with the adrenaline and sleep was looking like a good option. "We went to bed at the same time."

"I slept before, you didn't." He paused and Chloe looked up to see him awkwardly in the center of the room, as if he had started to come forward and stopped. "You should take a nap."

"I need to shower first. I feel… icky," Chloe shuddered and was surprised to see a small smile flit across Derek's face. "What?"

"Just your word choice," Derek replied. "Sometimes you swear like a sailor and other times, you say, 'icky'."

"And here I thought that I was better in English," Chloe said in a simpering tone as she rose from the bed. He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. "You're a genius, Derek. Let me enjoy the fact that little old mathematically challenged Chloe is better than super genius Derek at something."

She got another look for that one. "I'm not a super genius. Not even a genius."

"Uh, sure. Says the kid who took University Mathematics in sophomore year," Chloe said as she started pushing him towards the door. "You're a genius, deal with it. Take the compliment."

Derek rolled his eyes but Chloe could have sworn that she saw the hint of a pink flush cross the bridge of him nose. Smiling to herself, she pulled the door open and ushered him outside. Thankfully he was cooperating or she wouldn't have been able to get him to move an inch. She was about to close the door when he put his hand on the frame and effectively stopped the motion.

"Just… keep your phone nearby and text if you need something," Derek said in a low voice. "Anything, okay?"

"Yes, mother," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes and he scowled. "I'm just going to take a shower and nap. How much trouble could I get in?"

Derek muttered something that Chloe wasn't sure she wanted him to clarify and she just leveled a glare at him instead. The action made him grin and he reached up, brushing a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail and tucking it behind her ear. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and her heart rate kicked up a notch. Immediately, he yanked his hand back and frowned slightly. Giving her a slight nod in farewell, he turned and walked back to his own room without another word.

It took her a moment to realize that she was still standing in her doorway. Closing the door, Chloe leaned her back against the wood and put a hand to her still racing heart. What was going on with her? Her skin was still covered with goosebumps and tingly where he had touched her forearm. Why was she being so silly? It wasn't like she liked him. Right? The thought made heat pool in her stomach again like it had earlier in the day when he'd grabbed her hand. _Well shit. I like Derek._

Her head clunked against the door as she let out a small sigh. She was so screwed.

* * *

 **So, there it is. Chloe's aware of her feelings and Liam's a creepy little shit. What's new? Characters too OOC or what? Let me know!**

 **Sorry that this one was so long. Like extremely so. Closer to 7000 words before A/N which is a new record for me. It just felt like splitting this up would be stupid.** **I've put myself on a deadline so I will update soon, I promise that. I even have someone reminding me of the dates, so you needn't worry.**

 **Any hoo, back to writing for me. You guys R and R if you please :) Love Brii**


	15. A Slip Of The Tongue

**A/N: Hey guys, so uhm... I'm back. Kind of. It's been a hectic few months. I know, I know, I promised to update and didn't. I would skin me alive if I were you for being such a shitty updater, but in my defense, here's what's going on with me.**

 **School has literally murdered me. I've been doing the majority of the grunt work for myriad of group projects and it took up all of my time. I had to stop mid-writing to do that so it kind of threw me into a funk and the rare few moments of time I did actually get off were spent with me redoing this chapter over and over and over again. My boyfriend, who has been lovely enough to read through all of the failed attempts so far, is just as frustrated as you all are. Also I've been getting some aggressive migraines lately. It's mainly triggered by light and that wasn't too big a thing until the whole group projects fiasco and the fact that I go to a tech-based school and all we do is stare at computer screens. So yeah, by the time I got home doing anything but curling up in the dark made me cry, and even then the pain was excruciating. All of that more or less cut my writing time down to not even a third of what it used to be. But I have persevered.**

 **Currently, I'm writing this A/N after my first of 2 wisdom tooth surgeries (I have an five wisdom teeth, of course, because life is just _loving_ me), so I'm probably oversharing but I thought you guys deserved to know why I was so flaky the past few months. There's more but that was really the base of my issues so yeah.**

 **Shout out to my reviewers! Y'all got me to 102 and I can't thank you enough. JDrummond, Rephiamluvers123, Barayah, Bibliophile102, Guest 1, supermies, Huntsman-In-The-Snow, Carlycalore19, nerdalertwarning, Blancake, and Guest 2. Your comments were what I looked at whenever I felt like giving up! I love you guys. Also, to my non-reviewers, I haven't forgotten about you. I love you too!**

 **Uhm, without further ado**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **A Slip of the Tongue**

 _I like Derek._

The words seemed to be playing on an endless loop in her head, mercilessly repeating no matter how much she tried to shut her brain off. Chloe blinked, her face turned up to the ceiling as she blankly stared at the little bumps that were hanging above her. She'd been lying in bed in the exact same position for God knows how long, trying to get a modicum of sleep. But no matter how hard she tried, it seemed to evade her because her stupid brain had gone into shock. At least, part of it had. A small, persistent part that seemed set on ruining any chance of her getting sleep which just made the bigger, tired portion of her brain pissed. But she refused to start arguing with herself because she wasn't that crazy. She might have a crush on a werewolf and talk to ghosts, but she wasn't crazy enough to start arguing with herself.

 _I like Derek_.

Nope, she wasn't that crazy yet.

 _I like_ Derek _._

She was not going to argue with herself.

I _like Derek_.

Chloe groaned, grabbing one of her pillows and shoving it over her face. She was seriously considering smothering herself until she passed out. At least then she would get some rest.

 _I_ like _Derek_.

"Shut up!"

"But I didn't even say anything yet."

Chloe was out of bed and on her feet before she fully registered moving. Mila was sitting in her desk chair, legs casually kicked up on the table surface as she watched the necromancer gather her bearings. Levelling a glare at the ghost, Chloe sat down heavily and ran a hand over her face as she willed her heart rate to slow down. "I thought we agreed that you weren't going to keep trying to give me heart attacks."

"I wasn't sure if you were awake or asleep," Mila responded with a shrug. "You were laying there staring at the ceiling for so long that I was wondering if you fell asleep with your eyes open. I had a roommate who always did that. Snored and everything with her eyes wide open and—"

"The point is that you scared me shitless," Chloe cut in sharply with a roll of her eyes. "And it would be great if you didn't do that."

"You jump at your own shadow."

"The point?"

"Not scaring you is literally impossible."

Chloe sighed through her nose. "I'd appreciate if you could at least try a bit harder."

"Noted." There was a pause. "So who were you talking to?"

"Hmm?"

"You said shut up. Yelled it, actually. Who were you talking to?"

Chloe cleared her throat, face warming with embarrassment. She didn't really want to tell Mila that she was talking to the annoying voice in her head. So she changed the topic. "Was there a reason that you've barged into my room while I'm trying to take a nap or did you just do it for a bit of fun?"

"If I was looking for fun, you would be the last person I came to," Mila deadpanned. Chloe gave her a dry look and the dark-haired girl sighed, leaning back in the chair. "I came to talk to you about last night. I came by earlier but you weren't here, so I'm assuming you were with Derek."

"What about last night? And why would you assume I was with Derek?"

"Because you're always with Derek?" Mila asked, confusion clear on her face as she took in Chloe's reaction. "And because I told you to think about what I said about Rae? Remember that?"

 _Oh_. Chloe gave herself a little shake, physically and mentally, in an attempt to clear her mind. She hadn't forgotten but her mind had immediately zoned in on the mention of Derek and she had worried that Mila not only knew she had been with Derek, but that she also knew what had happened between them last night. Not that anything had even really happened… _Focus, Chloe_ , she immediately scolded herself as she brought her erratic mind away back onto the topic at hand. The conversation with Mila had really stuck with her. It was actually part of the reason that she hadn't agreed with the others that the school. Rae's kidnapping was sloppy and almost impulsive. It was a random act that stuck out, similar to the pattern that they were following but not the same. All the other kidnappings had been clean getaways. No one knew that the victim was gone until it was too late. She said as much to Mila, repeating all the information that they had figured out earlier as well into the mix to see if she knew anything about it. But the ghost was just as taken back by the information as the rest of them.

"Phoenix project?" Mila repeated in disbelief, shaking her head. "So you're telling me that we're not even part of the same experiment? You were part of this—what do you call it? Right—Genesis II Project. This just keeps getting more fucked up."

"You can say that again," Chloe mumbled under her breath. She had moved to lean back against the headboard. "Are you sure that you've never heard of the experiments before?"

"No. I mean… I don't think so… But maybe…"

"Maybe?"

"It's nothing solid, just something from when I was younger. Every now and then my parents would be whispering about something, but they'd clam up whenever they noticed I was around. But I think I might have heard—"

The rest of Mila's words fell on deaf ears when Chloe was suddenly overcome with an image of a kitchen that she didn't recognize. Before her stood a raven-haired couple seemingly caught up in an intense argument as they spoke in hushed voices. The man was gesturing repeatedly, movements getting more agitated by the moment while the woman was just shaking her head, arms folded tightly across her chest as she spoke. The scene caused an unexplainable feeling of sadness to run through her, though she had never seen the couple before. Words from their conversation seemed to float towards her, hanging in the air in broken phrases that she knew would be important if she could just put it together. However, the moment that she inched closer to them, both heads snapped up and turned in her direction. The man smiled, a bright white show of teeth in attempts to cover the irritation underneath as he moved to usher her from the room. Before she left, she managed to glance around him to where the woman still was. She hadn't made a move to stop him, but she was staring at them with a look of displeasure, lips pressed firmly together. Then as abruptly as the image had come, it disappeared. She found herself back in the room with a massive headache pushing at the edges of her consciousness.

"What just happened?"

Chloe hadn't realized that her eyes were closed until she opened them and found herself staring into Mila's brown eyes, which happened to be uncomfortably close to her face. "Back up a bit, would you?"

"Sorry," she murmured, moving back towards the foot of the bed. "What happened? You got all pale and I thought you were going to pass out."

"I think… I think I just saw one of your memories," Chloe finally breathed out. "Why am I _still_ seeing your memories?"

"I-I don't know. You weren't supposed to still see them. Don't look at me like that! I really don't know! It was supposed to be a one-time thing! Maybe you did it wrong?"

"How the hell was I supposed to do it right if neither of us knew how to do it to begin with?" Mila shrugged apologetically, looking as confused as Chloe felt. Her head felt miserable, like an overstuffed turkey, but it was better than when she originally taken the brunette's memories so that was something. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she closed her eyes and tilted her face up at the ceiling as she spoke. "I'll be fine once I get some sleep."

"Are you sure?"

"Not really, but let's just say so, because I'm tired as hell and I need the sleep."

"Okay," Mila said slowly. She didn't sound convinced. "I guess I'll leave you to it then? I'm going to go keep an eye on Davidoff."

"The principal?" Chloe frowned. "Why?"

"Because he's the head of the school. I figure the higher ups were the best to start with since he's the bridge between the people who ran the experiments and the school. At the very least, he knows what was in the files that we have. He has access to all about the shady files hidden in the school mainframe. Plus, he's always gave off the bad guy vibe."

A thought popped into her head and Chloe straightened up suddenly. "Actually, if you're going to follow people, you should follow Ms. Basher and Mr. Karavan."

"You mean the hot English teacher and crazier Ms. Frizzle?" Mila asked and Chloe rolled her eyes. "Any reason why?"

"I overheard a conversation." Chloe didn't know why she was being so vague. Probably because she didn't want to go into _when_ she had overheard the conversation. She didn't really want to go into those details. "I got a hunch that they're working for the school, but they aren't working _for_ the school."

"You're thinking they're uncover agents? For who?"

"I don't know. But I think they might be on our side," she said with a shrug. "I'm not sure though so if you could follow them and confirm it, that would be great. Cause we could really use some more people on our side."

"No kidding," Mila said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Have you told the others about this little hunch yet?"

"No, just… just Derek." His name had formed a solid lump in her throat and she was having a hard time swallowing around it. Mila's eyes widened as she took in the other girl's reaction and Chloe hurried to continue. "I didn't want to get there hopes up if I was wrong."

"Right…" Mila looked like she was going to say something else but seemed to think better of it as Chloe stifled a yawn behind a fist. "Yeah, I'll get right on it. Get some sleep, Chloe. You're starting to look like the dead."

With those parting words, she disappeared before Chloe's eyes, leaving her once again with her thoughts.

Chloe didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until she was suddenly blinking herself into consciousness in a pitch black room. Instantly, panic rose in her throat and she scrambled out of bed, blindly searching for something—anything that would light up the room. She cursed as she bumped into the edge of her desk with a thud, another one leaving her lips as the sharp pain registered. But her hand moved until she was able to flick on the reading lamp that lived on the desk, letting out a breath that she didn't known that she had been holding as her eyes scanned over her illuminated room.

She had always been afraid of the dark. Ever since she was a kid, it had just terrified her. Enough that she had panic attacks whenever the power went out. Chloe knew that it was silly, but she just couldn't shake it. And it only got worse after she started seeing ghosts. Before then, it had just been an irrational fear, scared of imaginary monsters in the dark. But now… now she could raise the dead. _In. Her. Sleep._ A dead cat crawling into your bed and attacking you in the middle of the night isn't something you recover from. It still gave her the heebie jeebies. A shudder rippled through her at the thought and she felt the goosebumps rising on her arms. Thinking about the cat brought back thoughts of the man from behind the movie theatre. How angry he had been that she had accidentally pushed him back into that body. That rotting corpse that they had just… left there. Clenching her jaw against the sudden increase of bile at the back of her throat, Chloe took a breath, trying to clear her head. If it hadn't been for Derek, she wouldn't have even been able to focus long enough to release him.

 _Speaking of Derek_ … She felt the blood instantly rise to her face even as a feeling of warmth spread through her body, leaving her feeling slightly lightheaded as she remembered why it had been so hard to get to sleep begin with. How something as small as a crush had suddenly rendered her brain useless was beyond her. But now that Chloe was rested, it was becoming apparent again just how screwed she was. There was no way that she could tell him that she liked him. They had just gotten to the point where they were friends. She wasn't going to jeopardize it over feelings that she really couldn't be sure that she had. After all, she had never had a crush on anyone before. She had moved around so much that even the thought of a boyfriend had been a far-fetched and unappealing notion at best. Not to say that she hadn't noticed attractive guys. Hot was hot. But she had never gotten to the point where she had actually developed a crush. For all she knew, her sleep deprived brain had gone haywire and misinterpreted signals. However, if it was true that she liked him, then she was really screwed. Because even though she had no intention of telling him, there was the very real possibility that he might figure it out by himself, if he hadn't already. Derek had the uncanny ability of being able to read her better than anyone else she had ever met in her life. All it took was one look from those penetrating eyes and he read her like an open book. This time would be no different.

It was the sound of arguing that pulled her out of her thoughts. Familiar arguing. Pushing aside her current predicament, she listened closer and, sure enough, she could hear the sounds of Simon and Tori's usual bickering floating through the door. _They really can't go five minutes without an argument_. Running a hand through her bedhead, she secured it in a messy ponytail like she had earlier as she moved to the door and swung it open to reveal her friends.

"Do you guys ever stop arguing?" Chloe asked in mock-annoyance, leaning against the frame.

"Well if she wasn't such a bitch all the time—" Simon started.

"Shut it, Harry Potter."

Liz was standing between the two with a loving, if slightly exasperated, look on her face. Meeting Chloe's eyes, she smiled softly and shrugged. "We were about to head down for dinner. Want to come with?"

"Yeah, I could eat. Let me just get my stuff."

Chloe dipped back into the room to grab her key and phone at the same moment that her stomach made a loud grumbling sound. It was then that she realized that she was actually starving. Not only had she not finished her lunch, she had barely touched it before she had left with Derek. Earlier, she had been more tired than hungry so it didn't bother her but now that she had actually gotten some much needed rest, she was really ready to fill her stomach. No doubt that he felt the same. However, when she joined the rest of them in the hall, locking the door behind her, she found that he wasn't standing down the hall like she had assumed.

"Where's Derek?" Chloe asked, attempting to be nonchalant as they made their way down the hall.

Apparently she failed miserably at it though, because Tori stopped mid-insult and gave her a look. "In his room."

"Isn't he coming with us?"

"No, he said he was working on some Physics thing," Simon explained as they started down the stairs. "Said he'd meet up with us a bit later."

Though the answer made sense, she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't the real reason that Derek wasn't coming with them. There was no way that he was passing up food to do his homework. He always did his assignments days before they were due, so him choosing to work instead of eat made no sense. If Chloe remembered correctly, Derek hadn't finished his lunch before they left either and if she was starving, he must be ravenous by now. So why was he still in his room? The thoughts kept coming as they started down the stairs, piling on and on until finally, she made a decision.

"I forgot something. You guys keep going, I'll catch up."

She quickly made her way back up the stairs and down the hall, but instead of continuing to her own room, she stopped at Simon and Derek's room door. She just wanted to make sure that he was okay. At least, that was what she told herself. It had nothing to do with the little epiphany she had earlier. As Chloe brought her fist up to knock on the door, her previously empty stomach seemed to fill with butterflies despite her denial and she squirmed nervously as she waited. A minute passed with no sound and she knocked again. This time she heard a shuffling sound—papers, maybe—from inside the room and what sounded like one of the desk chairs moving. Then the door opened and her jaw dropped.

For the second time in just as many weeks, she was met with the sight of Derek's bare chest. His smooth and extremely muscular chest. In that moment, her brain went completely blank as she took in the sight of a half-naked Derek, from his shorts to the wide expanse of his chest before she remembered herself. Blinking rapidly and blushing heavily, she managed to drag her eyes away to look at his face and her eyes widened. He looked terrible. His hair was matted down across his forehead with a sheen of sweat. His skin seemed to have lost most of its color, pale apart from where his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were cloudy. He had to blink a few times to focus as he peered down at her.

"Chloe?" he grunted, frown pulling his brows together as his eyes finally focused on her. "What—"

"You're sick," she cut in, eyes still wide. She could feel the heat radiating off him, hotter than usual. "And you have a fever. You should be in bed."

"I'm fine," Derek grunted back as he pushed his sweat slick hair off of his forehead. "What are you doing here?"

"Derek, this isn't fine!" she hissed back and he rolled his eyes. How he could be so annoyingly dismissive when he looked ready to keel over, she would never know. "Don't you roll your eyes at me! Seriously, Derek, you're sick."

"I'm fine," Derek growled, eyes roving over the hallway before landing back on her and dropping his voice. "I don't get sick, remember?"

"Then how do you explain this, huh? Cause you definitely look sick to me. Unless…" she trailed off as she looked him over again. "You're Changing."

Derek raked a hand through his hair again before he jerked the door further open and waved her in impatiently. Quickly slipping inside, she watched as he shut the door firmly before rounding on her. The only light on in the room belonged to the lamps on the boys' bedside tables but she could clearly see the glare that he was directing at her and how his eyes seemed to glow in the low light similar to the way that they had glowed in the field earlier.

"Could you have said it any louder? I'm not sure the entire school heard you."

She swallowed the urge to snap back, barely, and blew a breath out through her nose before she spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because it wasn't happening earlier," Derek sighed, leaning against the door. It was a casual enough movement, but she could see the stiffness in it. The way that it looked like moving certain ways was a struggle. "It just happened."

"What do you mean, it just happened?" Chloe frowned, looking over him. "There had to be signs. You don't just develop symptoms out of nowhere. It isn't possible."

"Well, it isn't possible to accidentally raise the dead either, but here we are." Chloe winced at that, jaw clenching slightly before she relaxed it again. Derek noticed—probably heard the sound of her teeth grinding together—and frowned, looking away. "I didn't… I just mean that we aren't normal. What they did to us? Playing with our genes? Anything's possible now. So yeah, it just happened."

They stared at each other for a moment. "So what do we do now?"

"Right now? Nothing. I can't very well change in a dorm room, now can I?" he asked drily and Chloe gave him a look. He rolled his shoulders, grimacing slightly. "I have to wait for nightfall before I can sneak out to Change without anyone noticing."

"We."

"What?"

"We," Chloe said again, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm coming with you."

Derek didn't say anything for a moment, frowning again as his gaze roamed over her face as if he were searching for something. Chloe's arms folded defensively across her chest as she attempted to keep her own gaze steady and unwavering as she met his. She hoped that he could see that she was going to stand her ground on this. There was no way that she was going to back down. It wasn't that she doubted that he was stubborn enough to go out without her. She knew that he was. But she also knew that she was stubborn enough that she would just go searching through the woods until she found him if he decided to leave her behind. And she was sure that she would have no trouble finding him if he was projecting as much pain as he had been last time.

"Okay."

Her thoughts came to a screeching halt as the word processed through her mind. "Okay?"

"Okay," he rumbled again, gaze shunting to the side. "I'm taking you with me."

Chloe blinked up at him in surprise. She couldn't believe that he had agreed so easily. "Okay."

Derek nodded, more to himself than her as he pushed away from the door with a grunt. "Go get something to eat because I really can't listen to your stomach growling all night. There is only so much torture a man can take."

Chloe rolled her eyes as she moved around him and into the hallway. When she turned back to him, Derek was using his body to keep the door open as he reached around to scratch his back and she found her eyes drawn to his chest again, or more accurately, the eight pack that was staring back at her. _I wonder how hard you have to work to get that many abs_ , Chloe mused as she only just kept herself from drooling over the sight. It took her a moment to drag her eyes away from it, only to look back up at his face and find him watching her with an unreadable expression. He had caught her checking him out. Oh god. She could feel the blush go up her neck all the way to the tips of her ears and she awkwardly cleared her throat, rocking back on her heels as she looked for something to say.

"Chloe?" It took her a moment to look up from where she was resolutely staring at the floor. He was still wearing that unreadable expression. "Don't mention it to the others, okay? Especially Simon."

"You mean he doesn't already know?" Chloe asked and he shifted uncomfortably. "Derek, you should tell—"

"No." he cut in sharply and her eyebrows shot up. Derek sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Just don't tell him. Please."

It was the please that made the argument stick in her throat, unable to move as she looked back at him. Derek never said please. He never asked for thing, period. Derek demanded or commanded or just took what he wanted, so for him to say please… well, it was huge. She didn't like it. The thought of not telling the others made her stomach twist in uncomfortable ways but it wasn't her secret to tell. If he didn't want them to know, she wouldn't tell. So she nodded, rubbing two fingers between her eyebrows in attempts to stave off the headache that was trying to push through. The relieved half-smile she got in return was enough to make her heart flip in her chest but she couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled over her as she walked away.

The feeling plagued her all through dinner, making her more jittery than she usually was. It didn't help that she also felt like she was being watched. Ever since Derek said it before the football game, she couldn't shake the feeling that eyes were following her but today it was worse. Whether it be just her imagination working overboard or from the fact that they had actually caught Liam staring at her earlier, Chloe just felt like she was getting ready to jump out of her skin. Something that her friends noticed.

"What's with you?"

Chloe jumped slightly, eyes snapping towards Tori. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is why are you so jumpy?" Tori asked, twirling her fork between her fingers as she peered at her friend. "I said your name and you nearly leapt out of the chair.

"I'm always jumpy."

"Never this jumpy."

Chloe frowned, eyes moving over to Liz and Simon for help but they were both looking at her expectantly. Liz shot her an apologetic smile. "You do seem kind of restless."

"I'm fine." Chloe blew out a sigh through her nose and tried to let the tension out of her shoulders as she looked at her friends. They continued to look at her expectantly and she shrugged. "You ever get that feeling that something bad is about to happen?"

"Sometimes," Liz admitted after a thoughtful moment. "But it's just a feeling, right?"

"I don't know, it's something. I just can't shake the feeling like..."

"Something wicked this way comes?" Tori finished with a snicker and Chloe flipped her off. "Chloe, it's just a feeling. Probably your nerves over your midterm tomorrow."

Chloe knew that wasn't it, but she nodded and was happy when the conversation moved on away from her. As the conversation moved to simpler things, she vaguely listened to her friends' voices and tried to let it soothe her nerves. Nate stopped by and joined them for a while, pulling up the seat beside her. He seemed more relaxed than he had been earlier and when they actually got to talking, she found that they had a lot more in common other than just having Drama the same period. Nate was actually really well-versed in all aspects of the filmmaking, not just the acting portion. He admitted that Simon had been helping him with his senior project, a film that he had written, directed and was acting in and if it went well, he was going to use it as his submission video for Julliard. They were in a deep conversation about which Academy-Award winning director was best when his phone vibrated aggressively on the table.

"Shit, sorry, just one second." Nate picked up his phone and whatever he saw on the screen made him sigh. "My roommate's locked himself out again."

"Again?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, there is no one more forgetful than Ramon."

"Oh right, you live with him," Tori said. Chloe had almost forgotten that she was there. Simon and Liz had thrown in comments here or there between their own conversations, but Tori had more or less just sat on her phone the entire time. But now her full attention was on Nate and he squirmed a little under the intensity of her gaze. Apparently intense stares were a Bae family trait. "Are you two friends?"

"Not really." Nate shrugged, shoving his phone into his pocket. "He's okay and all, but he's really never around. Plus, we don't have the same taste in friends. But I really better let him in before he does something stupid to the door again. I'll see you guys. And I'll finish proving you wrong next time."

The last part was aimed at Chloe and she smiled up at him as he stood up. "We'll see."

He grinned at her, hovering only long enough to hear the vague goodbyes from the others before he left. Chloe watched him for a moment before turning back to her friends, who were grinning at her like the Cheshire cat. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"You know why!" Liz squealed and Simon winced a bit as the sound hit his ears. Chloe just stared at her blankly and the blonde sighed, shaking her head. "You like him!"

"What? Who?" Liz gave a pointed look in the direction Nate had gone and Chloe's mouth dropped open. "No! No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I really don't."

"Then why are you blushing so hard?"

Chloe sighed, rubbing at her flushed cheeks. "Because I'm embarrassed. It happens. But I'm not into him."

"Me thinks thou protest too much," Simon said in a stage whisper which got him a dark look from Chloe. "Sorry, princess, but you two did seem kind of chummy."

"That's called being friendly! He isn't even my type." It was true. The thought of her and Nate together wasn't unappealing or anything but it didn't feel right. Earlier she had thought it was just because of how different she had been because he reminded her too much of who she had been and not of who she was. Now, though, she knew it was because she already had her eyes set on someone else and thinking about that just made her more exasperated than she already was at this point. Sighing, she tried to change the topic. "Who is Ramon?"

"You mean Nate's roommate?" Simon asked and Chloe nodded. "Oh, just another one of the scumbags in the school."

"He's not that bad," Liz defended with a frown. "He just hangs out with a bad crowd."

"And this is why we love you." Simon ran his hand down her back. "Because you see the good in everyone."

"Even when there isn't any," Tori added, eyes moving up to peer at her friend. "Which happens to be the case for Ramon. He might not be as bad as Liam but he doesn't stop—"

"Wait, Liam?" Chloe cut in. "As in Malloy?"

They all nodded but Tori was the one to speak. "The very same. Ramon follows him around like a little lapdog. He might not do the same shit as Liam, but he doesn't stop him either, and that's just as bad. It's best to just avoid them both."

Chloe nodded, but the uneasiness settled over her again. Just the mention of Liam had her skin wanting to crawl and she wished, not for the first time, that Derek had come down to dinner. It was a selfish thought, but she couldn't help thinking about how much better she would have felt if he was with her. _Safe_ , she thought suddenly. _He makes me feel safe._ Her eyebrows rose as she realized just how true it was and how dangerously deep in she already was with her feelings for her friend. She only realized a handful of hours ago that she liked him, but it seemed like this was spiraling well out of her control already. _I can't already be that far down the rabbit hole, can I?_ Grimacing at the lack of answer her brain supplied, she turned to her friends. "Are you guys done? I'm kind of ready."

"Finally," Tori groaned as she picked up her tray

Simon shrugged, raising from his seat. "I'm good."

"Actually I gotta pee," Liz admitted as she stood. Simon nodded, stacking her tray on top of his absently and she shot him a smile. "I'll be back in a second."

"We'll come with," Tori said immediately, grabbing the tray from Chloe's hand and piling it as well as her own on the stack that Simon had. He gave her a scowl and she smiled sweetly at him. "Brother dearest will wait for us."

They didn't wait for a response, Tori looping her arm through Chloe's and dragging her along with them as Simon followed. Making their ways around the tables, Simon branched off in one direction with his stack of trays balanced carefully in his hands and the girls branched off in the other as they headed out to the washroom. Tori and Liz chittered away with each other while Chloe listened absently, most of her attention on keeping her shorter strides in time with theirs so that she didn't trip and send them all toppling over.

The moment that they stepped foot in the washroom, the arms uncoupled and Tori made a beeline for the mirror while Liz made a beeline for the stall. That left Chloe hovering awkwardly by the door, not knowing where to really go. She didn't really need to pee but she didn't really want to look at herself in the mirror. She didn't have any makeup on that she needed to refresh and she wasn't one of the girls who stared at herself in the mirror at any opportunity. So instead, she found a place beside the hand dryer to lean against as she waited for Liz to finish.

"So what is it?"

Chloe's eyebrows furrowed as she swiveled to look over at Tori. "What is what?"

"Your type," Tori said as she refreshed her lips with a tinted balm. "You said Nate wasn't your type. So what is it?"

 _Broody, six foot, gorgeous green eyes, and, oh right, your brother!_ Chloe felt the blood immediately rush away from the rest of her body and straight into her face at such an intense speed that it made her dizzy. Apparently the part of her brain that had been in shock and wouldn't let her sleep earlier was back with a vengeance. However, now it was just supplying inappropriate comments at the most inconvenient of times. Coughing in a sad attempt to clear her throat, she shrugged. "O-Oh that. I-I don't really have one. It's just something you say."

"I don't believe you. Liz, I don't believe her."

There was the sound of flushing and the stall swung open as Liz stepped out. "Neither do I."

"Everyone has a type," Tori continued, turning to look at Chloe. "Or at least some kind of preference."

"It's true," Liz commented as she washed her hands.

"I don't know what to tell you guys," Chloe grumbled, looking away. "I'd never even had a crush before I came to this school."

"What was that?" Tori asked, straightening.

Chloe looked up and met Tori's eyes in confusion. "I said I've never had a crush before. It's not that big a deal."

"No, you said that you never had a crush before you came to this school."

 _Shit_.

* * *

 **A/N: I know it doesn't really make up for the long as hell wait, but I'm working on it. Not promising the next chapter soon, but I'm aiming for not a four month difference between chapters again. However, I can't really help the cliff hangers. But you can tell me how much you hate them or like the chapter or just how shitty I am for not updating so long. I can take it. This one is super dialoguey and kind of monologuey at times as well.**

 **R and R if you please. I'm going to go write like a maniac now that I have my flow back. Peace and love. Toodles - Brii**


	16. Figuring It Out - Part 1

**A/N: I'm just going to leave this here and uhm... run. Far away. Cause like I know y'all can't be very happy with my disappearing self. Explanations at another time. I've been told I talk too much and y'all are here for the chapter, not my babbling.**

 **Thank you to you loyal readers and reviewers (as well as non-reviewers) for the support. Y'all the real ones.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Figuring It Out: Part 1**

Chloe was frozen. For all intensive purposes, she had become a statue, frozen in place the moment she had processed Tori's correction even as her mind went into overdrive trying to figure out ways to talk her way out of it. However, she had yet to find an excuse that would work and every new idea had gotten more and more ridiculous—bordering on idiotic. She had no idea how long it had been since she had spoken but apparently it had been too long because Tori let out an irritated sigh.

"I'm getting grey hairs here," Tori said as she drummed her fingers against the countertop. "Are you not going to say anything?"

Chloe stared for another moment longer, her brain changing gears as she decided that her best defense was a good offense. She let her eyebrow tick up in mock confusion, praying that her stutter didn't give her away. "Was I supposed to say something? You didn't ask a question."

Tori's eyes narrowed. "Who do you like?"

"I thought we just went over this." Chloe tried to channel the exasperation that she just minutes before. "I don't—"

"Have a type, yes, we know what you said," Tori interrupted with an impatient wave of her hand. "Not that we believe you. But that's not what I asked."

"Type is also different than a crush," Liz pointed out as she moved to the hand dryer, putting her right next to Chloe. "Type is what you like. Crush is who."

"Exactly. So again, I ask, _who_ do you like?"

Chloe supressed the faint pinprick of panic that was fighting to break through her chest and shook her head, fake exasperation and real irritation mixing together in her voice. "I thought I already told you that I'm not interested in Nate like that."

"As if Nate is the only guy in the school," Tori shot back. "Stop beating around the bush and just tell us already."

This time that prick of panic wouldn't be supressed. She had thought that she might be able to talk her way out of it, maybe backtrack somehow, but that wasn't working. She didn't want to make it weird for everyone and tell them who she actually had a crush on. That would just make things awkward. But she also knew that if she didn't think of something, they were going to keep pestering her about who it was in less private places and she couldn't let that happen. She needed to think of something to give them that would satisfy their curiosity. Quickly.

"So are you going to tell us who it is or are leave us standing here in suspense?" Tori asked, fingers drumming on the countertop impatiently. "We don't have all day."

"You aren't really giving her the chance to talk," Liz reasoned as she moved back. Without the sound of the dryer buzzing away in the background, the silence seemed to hold a heavier weight to it, turning almost tangible. "Just give her a second to breathe."

Chloe touched the tip of her tongue to the roof of her mouth, mind whirring over the possible responses that she could give them. Even if she could get a handle on her nerves enough to control her stutter, she didn't really want to lie. She was already lying to enough people as it was, no need to add two more to that growing list. Keeping that in mind, she carefully chose her words before she spoke. "You've got it all wrong. What I said doesn't mean what you think it means."

"Oh really? Cause I'm pretty sure there aren't many ways to interpret that."

"I just meant that I didn't have the chance to have a crush before. I've moved a lot. Actually, a lot is an understatement. But when you switch schools every couple of months, you don't really see the point in getting attached to people you'll probably never see again." Chloe paused as she took in their facial expressions. Liz looked like her puppy had just been kicked and Tori's previous smugness had all but evaporated. "So, yeah, of course I don't have a specific type or anything like that. It really wasn't an option before I came here. And now with the whole… missing situation, there are more important things to worry about, you know? I never put much thought into that stuff until you brought it up at lunch."

There was a moment of silence as she let them digest what she had said. She'd been truthful about everything. She'd just conveniently left out the part where once she had put some thought into it, she had figured out that she indeed had a big hulking crush on a rather grouchy werewolf.

Chloe waited for them to say something, anything really, but nothing came. The silence stretched on and left her statement hanging in the air between them like a physical weight. She was beginning to worry that she had said too much when Liz unexpectedly pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. It actually knocked the breath out of her lungs and she let out a startled laugh after her initial shock wore off, patting the other girl on the back as she returned it. Liz pulled back, blue eyes full of sadness and Chloe's heart clenched at the sight. It hadn't been her intention to make them sad. She had just wanted to redirect them.

"Guys, come on, don't look so sad," Chloe tried as she looked between the girls. "You make it seem like I just told you I'm terminally ill or something. It isn't that big a deal."

Liz shook her head, chewing her lip. "It is though. You shouldn't have had to ever feel like that. It isn't fair to you."

"Well, maybe not but that's all in the past now. Because I've got you guys and the boys now." Chloe shrugged, giving her friends a genuine smile. "Seriously, though, if you guys don't stop looking at me like that I'm going to have to fight you."

Liz cracked a smile and Tori snorted, shaking her head. "Yeah, sure you will. Come on, let's get back before Harry Potter throws a tantrum."

With that said, they left the washroom and conversation went back to lighter topics.

Chloe only half listened as they walked, making absent affirmations at random intervals. Now that she was back in the open, she found the feeling of unease slowly creeping it's way back into her system. She felt… exposed. Her eyes scanned around them, looking for things that weren't there. She was convinced that there had to be something that triggering this reaction because, while she was always jumpy, she was rarely ever this paranoid. But there was no explanation to be found and she was set more on edge with every step she took. By the time they took the last turn to the dining hall, she was more than ready to head back to the room.

Picking up Simon on the way, the group headed back to the dormitories. Tori and Simon started bickering like usual along the way, going off intermittently between Liz's stories. By this point, Chloe had completely zoned out. Her mind was wandering and her eyes were still darting around, hastily taking in her surroundings. She kept looking over her shoulder like she was expecting someone to be behind her. But there was no one there. But that didn't stop her overactive imagination.

It only got worse when they rounded a corner and got a particularly crowded hallway. Dinner hadn't finished yet and it still wasn't close enough to curfew for kids to have to be in their dorms, so it wasn't new to come across people just hanging out in the halls. But it didn't help her nerves one bit. Not to mention, they were all spread out in gaggles in the middle of the hallway so Chloe and her friends had to either go around them or push through to get from one side of the hallway to the other, constantly body- and shoulder-checking people.

A particularly vicious shoulder-check sent Chloe stumbling to her right with enough force that she was sure to collide with something. She expected it to be the cold metal of the lockers and, with her luck, bruise her shoulder in the process. But instead of metal, she collided with some unsuspecting bystander with enough force to that she actually bounced back.

"Oh shit. I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm so so—" Chloe's voice died in her throat as she realized just who she had bumped into.

"I'm starting to think you're doing this on purpose," Liam drawled with a grin. Chloe's lips thinned and she glared, making a move to step around him only to have him sidestep into her path. "Where ya going in a such a hurry, darling?"

"Away from you," she snapped back and tried to get around him again. Once again he stepped into her path and she scowled. "Are you slow or something? Move."

"Fiery as always," he commented as he smirked down at her. "Isn't she just a cutie, Ramon?"

There was movement behind him and Chloe noticed the raven-haired man for the first time. _So that's Nate's roommate._ He was swarthy and little shorter than the blond, though he was definitely burlier. And she hadn't been kidding about man. Just like Liam, he looked older than the rest of them, looking more like someone who should be in college rather than walking around a high school. Apart from the varsity jackets the two were sporting, they looked completely out of place.

"I don't know man," Ramon said as he peered at her. His sneakers squeaked as he shifted his weight. "She's a little young for me."

"You know that's just how I like 'em."

Liam smiled as his eyes trailed over her body, giving her one of his slow once-overs that made her skin crawl. Chloe shuddered internally but managed to keep the scowl on her face as she tried again to move around him. This time, his hand shot out to stop her and drag her back, fingers digging into the only just blossoming bruises that he had left from earlier. She hissed involuntarily and his face lit up in delight at her discomfort. A dreadful sense of déjà vu hit her and she gritted her teeth against the immediate panic that followed. For a moment, she was back on that field with him with no exit in sight and this time, Derek wasn't coming to save her. Then the moment passed and she flicked her eyes around the hallway. Her friends weren't that far away, having not initially noticed that she had been stopped and moving a little further down the hallway. They were watching her and the two boys warily, and she knew she wasn't alone.

Pushing her stutter down, she steeled herself before meeting his gaze head on. "Let me go. Or I'm going to scream and then you can explain to everyone why you're harassingme."

Liam's reaction was instantaneous. His lips thinned and his eyes moved around the hallway, taking in their surroundings. It wasn't an empty threat. She hadn't been exaggerating when she had said the hallway was crowded. It might not be as busy as it was during school hours, but it was busy enough. There were enough people meandering around that her scream would make quite the spectacle. As he seemed to contemplate what his next move was, she let her own eyes travel back to her friends and sent them a look that screamed, 'Get me outta here!'.

"You think you're smart, don't you?" Liam asked and Chloe snorted. _Smarter than you, for sure._ But she kept that thought to herself. "You underestimate me."

Something about his voice made her hackles raise and she stared at him. He wasn't angry, not really. He was definitely annoyed, there was no mistaking that, but there was something else simmering below the surface. Something that was definitely not human. It made her want to cut and run but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he scared her. So she met his intense stare with one of her own, making herself as big as possible. "No, you underestimate _me_. For the last time, let me go."

"I—"

"Liam." Ramon's voice was sharp as he cut the blond off. Liam responded with a growl that, despite her earlier bravado, still made her cringe back. "Easy. Her friends are coming."

Liam scowled as he turned back, taking in the look of relief on her face from Ramon's word. "You're dumber than I thought if you think I'm scared of your little band of freaks. You'd think after the last time you'd know how dangerous it was for your little friends to get in my way. You don't want any more of them to get hurt, do ya?"

"Last time I checked, the only person in danger of getting hurt was _you_ ," she snapped back, remembering how he had backed down from Derek in the field. She knew it wasn't smart to aggravate him, especially since he still had a firm hold on her arm. But his threat against her friends made her mouth run off before her brain could catch up with it. "Isn't that why you tucked tail and ran when you tried to pick on someone your own size?"

She expected him to get mad. To narrow his eyes at her and tighten his already-bruising grip, or maybe even take a swing at her. Chloe wasn't sure what she expected but as soon as the words left her mouth, she tensed in preparation for what was to come. But nothing came. He just looked at her with the same unsettling expression he had worn had earlier at lunch. Calculating, yet eerily calm. It might have actually been worse than him getting mad. It made the hairs on her arms stand up and she shrunk back against her better judgement. He smirked at that, but the look in his eyes remained the same as he released her arm. She immediately took a step back, putting her out of his reach.

"Everything okay here?" She was grateful to look somewhere else, showing it on her face as she glanced at the speaker of the voice. Liz who had spoken, made her way around the imposing males and went to stand beside Chloe, flanked by Simon and Tori.

"Everything's fine," Ramon answered.

"She wasn't talking to you, pleb," Tori snapped, levelling him with a glare. "She was asking Chloe."

He merely smirked back at her and Tori's glower got even darker, if that was even possible. Liam, on the other hand, hadn't reacted at all to the others showing up. He was still staring at Chloe with the same look on his face, she could see it out of the corner of her eye as she trained her gaze on the two dark-haired people having a stare down. But it wasn't just that. She could feel it on her. God, she was going to have to take another scalding shower to burn off that horribly nasty feeling that his eyes on her brought.

'Though I'd love to stay and chat, we have places to be," Liam drawled after a moment of silence elapsed. Chloe let her gaze move back to him warily. He looked bored as he regarded her friends and clapped Ramon on the back, jolting him out of his focus on Tori. "Let me know when you figure it out."

The last part was aimed at Chloe and she frowned as they turned and left without another word. _What the fuck was he talking about?_

"Figure what out?" Simon asked, voicing her thoughts.

"No idea," Chloe replied honestly, eyes following the two until they disappeared into a side hallway a little further down. "Thanks for the save by the way."

"Any time," Liz said, her smile concerned. "What was that about?"

A one-shouldered shrug. "Just Liam being a creep as always."

"Want me to deal with him?" Simon offered and Chloe immediately shook her head. "You sure?"

"Positive. He's not worth the effort. Come on, let's go."

A look was exchanged but they didn't question her sudden urgency to get back to the rooms. They merely nodded and started walking in the direction of the dorms once again. Liz looped her arm through Chloe's this time and she got the distinct impression that the other blonde wanted to keep her close so that they didn't get separated in the rest of the gaggles they had to walk through.

Chloe let her mind drift back to her interaction with Liam. Now that she wasn't so focused on getting away from him, what he had actually said was really starting to hit her. He had _threatened_ her friends. She gritted her teeth at the thought. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to him threatening her. But it was unnerving how easily it had slipped off of his tongue. That's why she hadn't wanted Simon going after him. She didn't want him anywhere near that psychopath.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Liz whispered to her as they climbed the stairs. Simon and Tori were arguing in front of them, too caught up in their conversation to hear the two blondes.

Chloe blinked, focusing on her friend's concerned blue gaze and tried to give a convincing smile. "Yeah, just a bit out of it."

"Understandably," Liz murmured, nodding her head. "Does that happen often?"

"What?"

"Getting cornered by Liam and Ramon."

Chloe didn't answer for a second, once again flashing to last night, before shaking it off. "Not usually, no. And it's the first time Ramon's been here."

"But Liam has cornered you before," Liz stated. It wasn't a question but Chloe still nodded. "Does Derek know?"

This time Chloe didn't answer in favour of asking her own, throwing her friend a weird look in the process. "Why would you ask that?"

"You two just seemed to have gotten really close since the football game is all," Liz reasoned with a shrug. It wasn't like what the girl was saying didn't make sense. It wasn't like she was denying that Derek and her were definitely more comfortable with each other. But the way Liz had said it made Chloe's cheeks flush for some reason. "Anyway, I think he would want to know. He worries."

Chloe snorted, remembering how Derek had sidelined her right before the football game. "The only thing he worries about is me messing up his plans."

And if there was a slight tremor in her voice, it was from leftover irritation. Just because she understood didn't mean that she wasn't still irritated about it. That's all it was. Irritation. It wasn't the twinge of hurt feelings. Cause that would be ridiculous.

Liz hummed, eyeing her as they reached the fifth floor. Chloe was almost certain that she had dropped the topic but she pulled them up short before they could follow the others into the room and whispered, "He worries about _you_ , Chloe. A lot more than you realize."

 _He worries about me?_ Chloe blinked, confusion pulling her brows together. She didn't know what to say. Liz didn't give her a chance to say anything either, gently pulling her into the room before pulling the door in behind them. She immediately felt some of the tension from dinner start to ease out of her shoulders. She was still trying to figure out what to think about what Liz had said when Simon's voice pulled her up short.

"Hey, bro."

And it was then that the memory of Derek's impending Change was brought to the forefront of her mind.

Chloe sucked in a breath, back stiffening as she felt the overwhelming urge to smack her forehead. It wasn't as if the fact that Derek was Changing had slipped her mind. Far from it. She just hadn't wanted to think about it too hard after she had left, after confirming that he wouldn't leave without her, because then she would have to think about the fact that she hadn't told the others. It twisted her guts to think about it now. And even though she had tried to convince herself that it wasn't lying, that they would figure out everything the moment they actually saw him—because, well who wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on with a mere look at him—she still didn't like it. The fact that she hadn't told the others that he had looked like he was practically dying up here was enough to make her want to crawl out of her own skin and she had a sneaking suspicion that this had a big hand in why she had been so on edge the entire evening.

So she waited for their reaction with baited breath. She knew that it wouldn't take more than a glance for them to see how messed up he was, so any second they would—

"Are you sure okay?"

It took her a moment to realize that Liz was no longer at the door but standing beside her, looking concerned. Another moment before she realized that the look of concern wasn't' for Derek, but for _her_. Liz was worried about her. She startled, turning to fully face her. "Yeah, I-I'm fine. Just…"

Her voice trailed off as movement caught her eye and her head automatically turned in the direction of Derek's desk. She had been mentally preparing herself to see Derek in much the same state 0as he was before if not worse since she had left. What she saw was basically the polar opposite. Derek was sitting at his desk, scribbling notes at an aggressive pace and… he looked fine. Well, maybe fine was too much but he looked almost… normal and nothing like when she had left. From where she stood, she could see that his complexion was no longer pale and in turn, the flush in his cheeks had eased up considerably.

"Thinking," Chloe finished, suddenly remembering that she had been talking to Liz. The girl in question was watching her, face no longer masked with concern but with a look of knowing as her lips tilted into a small smile. "What?"

"Nothing."

 _Psht, like I believe that._

Liz once again didn't give her time to react before walking away and sitting on the bed that Simon was now reclined on. He scooted over to give her space, fingers absently brushing over her hand as he flashed her a big smile. She flashed one of her own as she entwined her fingers with his, much to Tori's immediate discontent if her gagging sounds were any indicator. Simon flipped her off with his free hand.

"Bite me, Harry Potter," Tori replied with a roll of her eyes as she turned in his chair. "Are you going to stand there forever?"

Again, it took her a minute to realize that the question was directed at her. Tori's eyes flickered to hers, brows arched in question. Chloe shook her head, silently moving into the room and heading towards her normal spot on Derek's bed. She hesitated for a split second before sitting, perching herself on the edge. Tori turned, her attention going elsewhere as her own fell on Derek. From this angle, she was able to take a closer look at the werewolf. She noted that, though he did look better than he had earlier, he wasn't actually better. He was still much paler than usual and she could feel the same heat from earlier radiating off of him from before. But it didn't look like he was having as much trouble focusing as earlier, as he hadn't stopped writing, or that moving was as difficult as it had been earlier.

"Do I pass, Dr. Saunders?"

His rumbling voice caught her in surprise. Her eyes were wide as he swung his head around to face her, green eyes burning bright with the ethereal light that she was coming to associate with wolves. It caught her off guard, how sharp his gaze was. He had barely been able to look at her when she had shown up earlier. "You look better."

Derek grunted, eyes flicking to the others to make sure they weren't listening before resting on her again. "I told you I was fine."

"And I still don't believe you. Probably has something to do with how you looked half-dead when I showed up earlier."

She hadn't meant for her response to be so biting, but something about the way that Derek was so callously ignoring how bad of a state he had been in earlier was grating her nerves. _Fine my ass._ Derek didn't say anything as he swivelled his chair around to fully face her. Her eyes tracked the movement and she noticed when he couldn't quite hide a wince as he leaned back in the chair. It must still hurt to move certain ways. _And he expects me to—_

"What are you two whispering about?" Simon asked abruptly.

Chloe jumped a bit on the bed. Derek didn't react, eyes still glued on her as he rumbled, "Math."

"Math?"

"Math."

"You've got to be kidding." Chloe glance over to see Simon giving her an incredulous look. She merely shrugged, trying to ignore the feel of Derek's insistent gaze. "Dude, give the poor girl a break. You been working her all day."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Stop exaggerating."

"He's really not," Tori replied. Her back was to them as she typed away at her laptop that she'd left in the makeshift workstation she had made for herself earlier. She barely glanced up when she was spoke. "If I didn't already know how bad she was at math, I would think that you two just needed an excuse to spend time together."

Chloe's cheeks heated. Whether it was out of irritation at Tori mocking her math skills or embarrassment as to what had been implied, she had no clue. _Even though she isn't that far off base,_ a quiet voice in her head whispered, much to her irritation. She batted away the thought as quickly as it had emerged. Derek scowled at his sister and, damn, if looks could kill. Tori, however, didn't seem bothered by the proverbial hole that Derek's gaze was boring into her back as she continued to type out what Chloe could only assume was code onto her laptop. His biting reply came seconds later.

"Don't you have a file to be decrypting?"

Tori flipped him the bird over her shoulder and went back to whatever she was doing. Derek was still glaring at her when Simon, who had been watching the interaction with a critical eye, changed the subject to football. It was a little obvious but she could tell that Simon knew that Derek wasn't in the best mood to be messed with. The tension was palpable and she was close enough to practically feel him it flowing out of him.

She watched as the boys spoke. The conversation was mainly one-sided; Derek grunted more than he actually answered, but he was fully apart of the conversation at least. As she watched, she couldn't help but wonder why Derek was so reluctant to tell them about his impending Change. It wasn't like he had been jumping for joy when he had had to admit it to her after she figured it out, but she couldn't understand why he would hide it from his family. It just didn't make sense.

She eyed the werewolf, as if she could find the answer just by staring at him. However, the longer she looked, the less she looked for tells and the more she just _looked_ at him. The way that his fingers gripped the pencil he had been using, twirling it around his fingers as he listened to Simon speak. The way that he tilted his head as he considered what was said. She noticed that his hair was still wet. He had apparently taken a shower not too long before they had gotten back. She could see the droplets that still clung to the ends of his hair. She watched one of the droplets slide down his neck, following a path until it disappeared in the collar of his shirt. _God, I just wanna—_

Chloe dragged her eyes away from him before she could finish the thought, staring resolutely at the wall instead of daydreaming about the boy in front of her. She could feel heat that had previously resided in her cheeks move to cover her entire face, as well as the back of her neck and the tips of her ears. She probably looked like a fucking tomato. If she wasn't careful, she was going to make a fool of herself.

With some effort, Chloe turned her thoughts to things other than Derek. She ended up circling back to her other problem of the day: Liam. He had completely unsettled her earlier with his little declaration. _You'd think after the last time you'd know how dangerous it was for your little friends to get in my way. You don't want any more of them to get hurt, do ya?_ It was ominous and threatening and it pissed her off because it made no sense. The only person from the group that had ever made a conscious effort to get in between Liam and her was Derek. And, while the Change had him worse for wear, he was fine. She sent a brief look in his direction just to help calm her nerves to make sure that he was, in fact, fine. _Yep, still fine. In every sense of the word,_ the same voice whispered to which Chloe mentally, and very nearly physically, slapped her forehead.

 _Not the time!_

So what the hell had the psychopath meant when he said that? And why the hell had he looked at her like _that_ when he had realized that she had no idea what he talking about? She had more questions than answers and the nagging feeling that said answers were right on her fingertips, just out of her reach and she just wasn't getting it.

 _You'd think after the last time you'd know how dangerous it was for your little friends to get in my way._ The words kept repeating in her head, like they were taunting her. It was actually starting to give her a rather pressing headache but for the life of her, she couldn't stop thinking about it. She just knew that if she pushed a little more that it would make sense. It was like she had all the pieces of a puzzle and they weren't falling into place. She leaned back on her elbows, gaze shifting to stare straight above her at the ceiling.

 _He could be playing me_ , she mused. _He could be trying to get a reaction out of me._ Not that it would work. He had tried it multiple times in class. Saying things to get under her skin. The only thing it had served to do was piss off Rae and she had—

Oh.

Rae _._

It felt like all the air in her lungs had been forcibly pushed out of her chest. _There was no way. That couldn't be the answer_. But even as she denied it, she knew. And now that she knew, she couldn't get why it had taken her so long to figure out. Fuck, how the hell had she missed it? It was so obvious. She could hear the sound of her blood rushing in her ears and her felt like her heart was getting ready to jump out of her chest. She was struggling to pull in oxygen and she _knew_ this feeling, knew that she had to calm down before she threw herself headlong into it but... she couldn't focus on anything but this. He had basically thrown it in her face with how obvious it had been and she couldn't—

Her vision swam in front of her eyes and it took her a moment to realize that she was sitting up, no longer staring at the ceiling. She was vaguely aware that someone was talking to her, that someone was saying her name but all she could really hear was the sound of her heart pounding in her ear. _It's your fault_. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. It felt like the walls were closing in on her and she just needed… out.

"Chloe?"

The voice was distorted and it sounded like it was being spoken from the other end of a large tunnel. Like it was bouncing off walls before the echo reached her ears. She could barely hear it over the sound of her heart hammering in her ears. It felt like the room was spinning around her and Chloe felt the distinct churning in her stomach that signalled that she was ready to hurl. Bile rose in her throat but it was her heart that she was worried about. It shouldn't be beating this fast. _Am I having a heart attack? Is this how I die?_

"Chloe!"

The voice was sharper this time, closer to her than before but she couldn't focus enough to figure out who was talking. _Does it matter who's talking? You're_ _ **dying**_ _,_ a voice in her head screamed. And she knew that she was doing the exact opposite of what she was supposed to do in this situation but shecouldn't _breathe_ and her head was dizzy and her heart was beating so damn loud. She struggled to get up, to get out, but her limbs felt sluggish and there was something in front of her preventing from moving. She wanted to take a swing at it, and she might've—the feeling of something catching on her nails was fleeting, barely registering in her mind. _Just let me go. God I don't want to die. I'm not ready to—_

Two stunning green pools swam into her line of sight for a moment, just a moment, and she felt calmer for a second. Almost like she was safe. But then they swam away just as abruptly as they'd appeared and she's spiralling again and Chloe doesn't know which way is up until a searing heat clamps onto the back of her neck. The heat scorched through her, so hot that she's suddenly sweating but grounding her long enough that when that green—that pretty, blinding green that had her stomach clenching in a pleasant way—appeared again, she found herself focusing on that instead of getting lost in the chaos again.

She wasn't sure how long she stared into the pools. It could have been a couple of seconds or hours later when her tunnel vision widened and the pools expanded into a pair of worried green eyes. Derek's worried green eyes. There's a pang in her stomach when it becomes apparent that he's worried about her. For some odd reason, it made her stomach clenched and she felt the distinct prickle behind her eyes that signalled that she was going to cry. Possibly again, because she had the distinct feeling that her face was wet.

"Chloe?" Derek's voice was like thunder to her ears but rather than it being frightening, it had a soothing effect on her. It made her feel safer. Calmer. Minutely so. "Chloe, I need you to concentrate on me. Match my breathing, okay?"

Chloe blinked slowly, wet eyelashes sticking together for a moment. Derek took a deep breath and she followed, breath shuddering out of her as she struggled to keep pace with him. Her chest still hurt, but concentrating on him helped to ground her into reality instead of the still swirling mess that was her thoughts. She still… wasn't all there but her chest didn't feel like it was going to explode anymore and that's something.

It's only when she gotten her breathing mostly in check that she realized that the heat that had clamped down on her neck before was actually Derek's hand. She had noticed before how he ran hotter than the others and how she had practically felt his body heat from across the room earlier. But the heat coming off from his hand was enough to cause sweat to appear at her nape. A similar feeling was wrapped around her wrists and a glance revealed that her wrists were restrained as well. She stared down at their hands blankly for a moment, mind whirring but no thoughts actually connecting. She recalled the distinct feeling of her nails catching something.

"You lashed out," Derek said in way of explanation, noticing the direction of her gaze. "Didn't want you to hurt yourself."

Her eyes leapt back up to his but before they could connect, they landed on three distinct scratches on Derek's cheek that hadn't been there before. Her eyes widened in horror and her breathing shallowed out again. "I-I-I-I—"

"Slow down."

His thumb swiped soothingly against the back of her neck but she couldn't take her eyes off of the scratches.

"Y-Y-Your c-c-c-ch-ch—" Chloe swallowed hard, mouth dry as she tried again. "D-D-Did I-I-I…?"

She didn't finish, she didn't have to. Derek knew what she meant. "It's fine."

Chloe shook her head. "I-I'm s-so sorry. I j-just…"

"Snapped?" Tori finished. Chloe jumped, having forgotten that other people were there. Embarrassment coloured her checks crimson as she looked at her friends before casting her eyes downward, not wanting to meet their gazes.

"Could you be anymore insensitive?" Simon shot back, scowl present in his voice.

"What? We were all thinking it. It's—"

"Enough!" Derek barked and Chloe eyes snapped up immediately to him. He was glaring at his siblings, and the anger was palpable. "This isn't the time!"

They had the sense to look chastised and the room fell silent for a moment. Nobody knew what to say. Liz was looking between everyone with wide eyes, Simon was grimacing at his bedspread, Tori was scowling at Derek, and Derek was glowering back with just as much animosity. The tension was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

Which is why Chloe broke it.

"I-I g-get panic attacks." Her voice was soft but it filled the room and she felt exposed. Raw. She moved to fidget with her hands and Derek released her, though he kept his other palm firmly against the back of her neck. "I-It's been a while since t-the last time and I don't usually d-d-d-do—" she gestured at Derek with a grimace and his hand squeezed her neck lightly. Encouragement. "—anything l-like that."

"Do you know what caused you to?" Liz asked quietly, brows furrowing. "Like what triggered you?"

Chloe sucked in a deep breath, holding it until her lungs hurt and she let out the shaky breath before answering. "Yeah. I-I figured it out."

There was another stretch of silence before Liz rushed on. "You don't have to tell us, if it's too triggering or you want privacy or something! I just wanted to make sure we didn't—"

Chloe shook her head, cutting off Liz's babble mid-sentence. "N-No, you misunderstand. I mean, that's what I triggered me. Figuring it out."

"It?" Derek grunted, looking curious yet irritated. "What is the ' _it_ ' that you figured out?"

Chloe gulped.

"I-I figured out what h-happened to Rae."

* * *

 **Part 2 is on the way, bare with me. R and R if you please. Toodles**


	17. Into the Woods

**A/N: Merry Christmas. Here's a chapter as a** **present. Uhm, university sucks. That's all.**

 **Thanks for the continued support, you're all troopers, non-reviewers and reviewers alike.**

 **(Side note: as I was editing, it seems the website is just converting half of my doc to Italics for no reason, so I had to try to manually go through and fix it, but I'm almost sure I either missed some extras or took out some of the original italics so apologies if it gets wonky at some point. It's the fourth time I've tried to edit it back to format and I'm currently giving up cause nothing is working and my head is starting to hurt from going back and forth)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Darkest Powers**

* * *

 **Into The Woods**

"What do you mean you figured out what happened to Rae?" Tori asked incredulously. "How can you figure it out when we already know what happened to her?"

"Because we _didn't_ know. We thought we did, and for good reason, b-but we were wrong. Her disappearance isn't connected to the others."

Tori stared at Chloe so intently that she started to shift uncomfortably. Apparently the soul piercing looks were a family trait. The only thing that kept her in place was Derek's hand still resting on the back of her neck. All she could do was let her words sink in and wait for someone to say something. Finally, Derek did speak, but it wasn't to her. It was to Simon. "Spell the door. This conversation needs to be private."

Simon nodded, letting go of Liz's hand and sliding off the bed to move to the door. The room was silent apart from the sound of his near-silent murmuring. It took her a moment to realize that he wasn't actually speaking English. Or any other dialect that she happened to be familiar with. And she was familiar with a _lot_ of different languages. She absently wondered what language it was as the he moved back into the room, seating himself beside Liz again instead of lying down.

"Now would you like to explain your epiphany?" Tori asked. Her tone wasn't biting or overtly sarcastic, but both brothers still turned to give her a look. She merely waved them off, eyes focused on Chloe. "Unclench, brothers. I'm not being mean. There just isn't a better way to phrase it."

That didn't seem to appease either of them though. They both opened their mouths, probably to tell her off, when Chloe jumped in before either of them could speak. "It's okay. Really. It actually helps."

"What? How does her being a bitch help?" Simon asked, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"Because it's normal," Chloe replied without hesitation. "People usually treat me like glass afterwards and it makes me feel… worse. Because they look at me differently. So her being like this is… well, it helps."

She shrugged like it made her point more valid, looking down at her hands instead of the others. Her hands were curled into fists on her thighs because, while her voice had steadied and her stutter diminished, she could still feel the tremor in her muscles. She didn't want them to know just how affected she was.

"See? I'm helping. So chill with the death glares."

Her smugness was actually palpable and made Chloe almost regret what she said. Almost. The glaring comment was aimed at Derek—whose look had been infinitely darker than Simon's to begin with—and merely scowled harder at her in response. Chloe could actually hear his teeth grinding together. He opened his mouth to say something, but this time Liz jumped in before he could say anything.

"Can we not fight you guys?" Liz pleaded, big eyes going from Tori to Chloe as if to implore her to speak. "Let's just listen to what Chloe has to say, okay?"

Tori and Derek stared at each other for another moment before Tori finally sighed, rolling her eyes and, after muttering something that was almost definitely not nice, turned her attention to Chloe. Derek turned as well, leaning back in his own chair and removing his hand from it's place on her neck. Immediately, she missed the warmth of it and an involuntary shiver ran through her as the cool air rushed in despite the fact that she could still feel the heat of his palm against her nape.

"Okay, so we were working off the assumption that because of how similar it was to the other abductions that Rae was taken by the same people who are hunting us and that the inconsistencies were just them getting sloppy; rushing their plans because they felt us breathing down their necks. But we had it backwards. It wasn't sloppy because we were onto them, it was sloppy because it _wasn't_ them." Chloe paused, taking a breath before she continued. "Look, I know this is out of left field and all, but it makes more sense than grouping her in with the others. It's been bothering me since we found out she was missing because she just doesn't fit their type."

"But she has a file! She was part of the experiment," Simon argued but Derek cut him off.

"She wasn't labelled dangerous like the others."

"So? We don't know if all of them were labelled like that," Simon argued stubbornly. "It just proves that they decided to go after all of us after all to clean up their mess."

"Then why are we still here, genius?" Tori shot back, eyebrows raised. "We found our files and while you're not on the shit list, the rest of us are. Why wouldn't they get the real problems out of the way before going after the others?"

"More convenient?" Simon tried.

"But then why would they pick her over me?" Chloe asked quietly and Simon opened his mouth only to close it again. "I'm the new kid _and_ I've got a history. It would be much less suspicious if I disappeared. Someone spreads a rumor about me transferring out or running away and that problem is as good as gone. I'm the easiest target."

"She's not wrong," Tori said after a moment. "She really is an easier target. I mean, Rae was a piece of shit, but she did know how to put up a fight. And with her powers, she would probably be able to do a hell of a lot more damage than our very own damsel-in-distress over here. No offense."

"None taken." _Okay, maybe a little bit taken_. Chloe tried to conceal a huff. She wasn't defenseless. "But like I said, it doesn't make sense for the same people who have been hunting us to be going after Rae."

"So you think there's another player at work then?" Derek asked. Chloe nodded and he rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't think it's the teachers. From what you said, they were as surprised by Rae's disappearance as we were."

"Teachers?" Liz echoed, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Chloe overheard Mr. Karavan and Ms. Basher talking about Rachelle and the other disappearances," Derek answered. "And they know that we took the files."

"What?" Simon yelped. "Why are you only just telling us about this now?"

"Because we only found out last night and, while I don't think that they're working for the school, we have no reason to trust them. I wanted to keep an eye on them to see what else they knew."

"But why didn't you _tell_ us? Since when are we keeping secrets?" Simon asked, voice as hard as his expression as he focused his gaze on his brother. "And how do you know that they aren't working for the school? They're fucking teachers."

Derek met his brother's hard look with one of his own. "It wasn't a secret. And I didn't tell you because there isn't anything to tell yet. The only thing we know for sure is that they aren't the ones who kidnapped Rachelle and they suspect us of stealing those files. That's how I know they aren't working for the school because they didn't tell Davidoff that we were the ones who stole their files."

"But how do you know that?" Tori asked, irritation flowing off of her.

"Because if they told them, we wouldn't all still be here."

His words hung in the air for a moment, pressing and foreboding. Tori pursed her lips, still irritated but whatever she had been about to say held back for a moment. Liz's face twisted and she shifted closer to Simon, fingers linking with his once more. He had his lips pressed together in a thin line as he stared at his brother. Derek stared back at him, face deceptively blank. His hand had moved to the opposite forearm, fingers digging into skin as he scratched.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Simon finally asked, rubbing his free hand over his face. "We know of two, apparently unconnected, groups of supernaturals—the school and the teachers—but neither of them have anything to do with Rae's disappearance?"

"Basically."

"So who the fuck took Rae?"

Chloe's face was grim by this point. She had been waiting for them to ask the question that she had been dreading, purposefully omitting who it was until then because she just couldn't bring herself to say the words aloud yet. Though it wasn't a surprise to her anymore, the thought of going over everything did nothing to stave off the panic that was still coursing through her blood. She could actually feel the moment that her heart rate picked up as she readied herself to speak.

Apparently, Derek could also hear her rapid heartbeat. His gaze snapped back to her, brows furrowing as it raked over her as if looking for the problem. Whatever he saw made his expression change, his eyes still sharp but soft when they met her own. For some reason, it made a lump form in her throat that she had trouble swallowing around. His voice was soft as he called her name, as if he was trying not to startle her. Like she was a cornered animal and he was trying not to make any sudden moves. Her eyes flickered to his cheek and she winced. She _was_ a startled animal. He called her name again and she dragged her eyes away from the place where her nails had dug into his skin to briefly meet his eyes before she looked away.

"It was Liam," she forced out, eyes on the wall. All other sounds died out immediately and she knew that all eyes were on her even though she couldn't see them. "He told me."

"He told you? As in, he admitted to doing it?" Liz gasped.

"No, no, of course not. Not in so many words at least. It was a crowded hallway and even he's not that stupid. Actually, he basically did everything _but_ outright say the words. So he might not have said it, but he said enough. It was what he was hinting at when you guys showed up. And I should have picked up on it sooner, but I wasn't paying enough attention to what he was saying. I was more focused on getting away from him than actually listening to him. At least, until he made that threat and—"

"Threat?" Derek cut in. Even though his voice was quiet, it was still effective in stopping her babbling. "He threatened you?"

Something about his tone of his voice made her drag her eyes away from where she had resolutely been staring at the wall to look at him. His expression was the complete opposite from before. Where his eyes had been open and soft, they were now flinty green stones with rage pooling like lava behind them. A shiver ran down her spine as his quiet—but building—ire hit her in waves as he continued to stare at her. But it wasn't only his expression that had changed. He was now sitting rigid, back straight and fists clenched so hard that his knuckles were white. She was sure if anything had been in them, it would have been destroyed.

"He threatened _them_ ," she replied honestly, nodding in the direction of the others. "He said _,_ 'you'd think after the last time you'd know how dangerous it was for your little friends to get in my way'. And I didn't understand because the only person who had actually gotten in his way was… Well, I didn't put the pieces together about Rae until we got back."

She had given Derek a purposeful look when she paused, knowing that he would know what she meant and what she had been thinking when Liam had said that. Chloe could still feel the rage inside him building, spilling out of him steadily before he finally growled, "I don't know how you could be so stupid."

It took a moment before she processed his words and then she froze. "Excuse me?"

"How could you be so stupid?" Derek repeated, practically spitting the words at her. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?"

"I didn't—"

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?! Do you have a death wish? No matter how many times I tell you to stay away from him, you keep going back. I tell you he's dangerous, we all tell you he's dangerous, and you end up in a fucking field alone with him last night and you got hurt. I told you at lunch that you need to be more careful, thinking you'd have learnt your lesson, and then you let yourself be caught alone with him again? Especially after what he said to you last night? Are you fucking suicidal?"

By this point, his voice had risen to a yell. The others were sitting in shock, eyes wide as they watched the yelling werewolf. Chloe really didn't blame them. If Derek noticed their reactions, he didn't let on. He merely stared at her, gaze so angry that she half expected to see steam coming out of his ears. But there was no steam. Just a panting, slightly red-faced Derek.

"Are you finished?" Chloe asked quietly. Her voice was deceptively calm. Derek's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, as if to continue on his rant but she was having none of it. "I'm not suicidal and I definitely don't have a death wish."

"Could've fooled me," Derek snapped.

Chloe ignored him. "And despite what you think, I didn't let myself get caught with Liam downstairs. I didn't _find_ him, he cornered me. And he wasn't alone this time. I couldn't get away and trust me, I tried."

Derek's jaw was twitching. "Words mean shit all when you keep gallivanting—"

 _"_ Okay, stop," she snapped. Her volume never rose but she could feel blood beginning to fill her face and her anger bubbled under her skin so hot that it made her blood boil. She was going to set him straight. "You don't get to speak to me like that. You aren't here to chew me out on the things that you deem I've did wrong, especially if you're jumping to conclusions—which you definitely are right now. So you better check your fucking attitude before I check it for you."

Derek's glare was sharp but Chloe met him head on, her expression completely blank apart from the slight narrowing of her eyes, even as a fire burned in her. She knew that her face was red from supressed rage, but at least she had control over it. An iron grip that wasn't faltering—at least, not yet. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to hold on though, with him coming at her like that.

"Can you guys just fuck and get it over with?" Tori asked abruptly, breaking the silence that had descended. Both heads snapped towards her with a biting glare and a deadly scowl at her insinuation. "What? Is that a no? I mean, we can leave the room if you need some time to work out your frustrations. But if not, how about one of you explain this whole Liam situation?"

"Tori—" Derek growled but Liz cut him off.

"No, she's right. You guys need to explain this. Now." All heads turned to Liz, shocked by the hardness of her tone. "Apparently, this situation with Liam has been going on for a while and we're only just hearing about it because neither of you thought it would be prudent to tell us beforehand. Now we're getting threatened, another girl has disappeared and apparently, Chloe's been hurt. So you're going to stop yelling at each other long enough to tell us everything that happened with Liam. Capiche?"

Dumbfounded, Chloe nodded. She didn't need to look at Derek to know that he would agree too. The way that Liz said it brooked no argument.

"You can start with how you're hurt and what the hell happened last night." Liz nodded to Chloe, eyes filled with concern. "Start from after we all left the room."

Chloe shifted, uncomfortable with all the gazes in the room on her again. She had to take a deep breath before recounting what had happened the previous night. She skipped over certain details; what her nightmare had been about and what she had divulged to Derek when they were out there. When she was explaining how Liam had grabbed her, she pulled up the arm of her sweater to reveal the bruises that he had left behind. Upon examination, she noted that there were more marks than before, a few extra red marks where his fingers hadn't overlapped pre-existing bruises. Liz had gasped, hand covering her mouth in shock. Simon had looked horrified. Tori had looked pissed, blue sparks flying off her fingers. Derek had just looked murderous.

"So that was last night," she concluded. "Uh, and lunch was just us being… cautious. Didn't want to be around him longer than absolutely necessary. He's made threats before then, but I—"

"What?" Derek asked.

"—didn't pay them much mind." Chloe glanced at Derek. He had been staring hard at forearm from the moment that she had rolled up her sleeve, jaw clenched tight and that unreadable expression he had sported in her room earlier. Now he was staring at her face, that fire back in his eyes and she knew he was gearing up for another fight. She sighed. "What now?"

"He's threatened you before?" he asked lowly, and a shiver went down her spine. It was literally chilling, how cold his voice had gotten and the barely controlled rage that was like steel underneath it. She nodded and his nostrils flared. "And you didn't think that was important before now?"

"Well, it wasn't like I knew all of this then, now did I?" Chloe shot back, trying to hold her ground against that stare. "It's not like I'm going to bring up every guy that can't take a hint. I just thought he was an average douche guy that didn't like when they were turned down."

"He is," Tori said adamantly, shaking her head. "He just happens to also be a kidnapping, possibly murderous, psycho-stalker werewolf."

Chloe winced. "Yeah. And anyway, it happened before we all started this so why would I tell you?"

"I don't know. Maybe I just assumed that you had one iota of self preservation in your system. Apparently I was wrong."

Derek's words hung in the air for a moment, long enough for them to sink in and Chloe gritted her teeth against the biting retort that was straining to get out of her throat. Simon seemed to realized this too, jumping in. "Woah, ease off a bit, D. She wasn't in the wrong here."

"Oh really? What if it had been Liz? Or Tori? Would you still be telling me to ease off if they hadn't told you?" Derek asked, and Simon pressed his lips together. "She's practically surrounding herself with dangerous shit constantly and—"

"It's not like I'm _looking_ for danger," Chloe tried to interrupt but he barrelled on.

"You don't have to! You're a fucking danger magnet!" he roared, flying out of his chair. This time the wave that hit her wasn't only anger, but pain as well. The movement cost him a lot more than he was showing. But Chloe didn't have it in herself to feel bad for him as he continued. "It's not enough that you're a target of a rogue group that is killing off our kind in this very school. You have to go prance around and provoke that psychopathic shit like a fucking idiot."

She was actually rendered speechless in that moment. Absolutely and irrevocably speechless. _Had he really…_ Even Chloe's brain wasn't able to form anything because she was just shocked. And angry. The longer she stared at him, the more the shock melted away and left only a burning fire of fury behind. The need to yell, to just get up and scream back at him, hell, to just throw a tantrum, was so intense that it was actually painful. Her throat was literally burning with the effort that it took in this moment to keep completely quiet instead of giving into the need to just let it out. She was just so mad and with his anger licking at her in skin in waves like it was, piling on top of her own, she was practically vibrating with barely suppressed wrath.

She didn't let it out though.

Instead of doing everything she wanted so badly to do, she merely slid to the end of the bed and stood up to face him. Though he still towered over her, she didn't back down in the slightest as she met his heated gaze head on with a glare of her own. Everything in her wanted to rip him a new one in the worst way possible, all of her thoughts jumbled together in a swirl of viciousness, but she held it in and kept herself tightly controlled as she spoke.

"I didn't go _prancing_ into anyone's path. And I sure as shit wasn't trying to provoke anyone. Not him, not you, not _anyone,_ you understand? I mean, do you even hear yourself, Derek? I didn't want any of this; I didn't ask for any of this. I was thrust into this shit and you have the audacity to get in my face and say I was _looking_ for it? I-I-I—Y-you—" She had to cut off for a moment and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her control was slipping and she knew that with her powers, she couldn't afford for her anger to get the best of her. There was a faint tingling in her leg where her pendent seemed to gain weight in her pocket that she had been ignoring, and she continued to ignore it as she turned her back on Derek to address the others, though she didn't open her eyes as she spoke. "I hate to drop bombs like this on you guys and just leave, but I really can't stay in the same room with him right now. There is a good, and growing, possibility that I'm going to attack him if I have to stay and listen to the bullshit that he—"

"You can't be—" Derek tried to interrupt and Chloe's eyes snapped open as she whirled around to face him again.

"Serious? I'm very fucking serious and I wasn't even speaking to you," Chloe hissed through her teeth. "So shut your fucking mouth and fuck off. I told you that you don't get to speak to me like this so I have no plans on sitting around and being your goddamn punching bag."

The silence in the room was deafening as she slid around his looming form and collected the remainder of her things that she had left at lunch from his desk, not wanting to leave anything in the room. He had pushed her further than ever before and she was only holding on by a thread. Scooping the last paper into her arms, she turned around and walking to the door.

"Chloe," Liz called.

Her hand on the door, she tensed and waited. But nothing came. So Chloe didn't turn around, merely opening the door and, with a murmured farewell, closing it firmly behind her.

She didn't relax when she got to her room. Not when the door opened or when she shut it behind her. Not when she placed the notes on her desk. Not even when she made a beeline for the washroom. It wasn't until she was standing in the shower, scalding water beating down on her head that she started to relax. She didn't feel better, far from it. She was still pissed. And she still had a bitter taste on the back of her tongue that she was sure that no matter how much she brushed her teeth, she wouldn't be able to get rid of it. She was, however, able to get rid of the gritty, disgusting feeling that had clung to her skin like a film since she'd run into Liam. And when she walked out of the washroom in a towel, she was almost relaxed.

That almost was the only reason that she didn't shriek like a banshee again when she found Mila standing at her bedside.

 _"_ What. The. Fuck," Chloe breathed out when she managed to slow it down enough to speak. "We literally _just_ talked about this!"

"Didn't this used to be red?" Mila asked, ignoring her question and pointed at the pile of clothes that she had left on her bed.

Sighing, Chloe moved forward to see what she was looking at and stopped short when she realized that it was the pendant of her broken necklace. It must have fallen out of her jeans pocket when she'd careless flung the clothes onto her bed in the hurry to get into the shower. She hadn't really stopped to look at it for a while, but she had noticed that the ruby had looked different, though she hadn't really been able to put her finger on it. But now the stone staring up at her was blue, not red.

"What the actual…" her voice trailed off as she picked up the pendant, turning it over in her hands. "It _was_ red."

"Well, it isn't anymore."

"I can see that."

"And you didn't change it?" A shake of her head. "Is it a mood thing? Or is there—"

"If I knew the answer to any of these questions, would I be standing here, gaping like an idiot with you?"

"Jesus, what crawled up your butt?" Chloe felt her jaw twitch but she refused to turn and look at the ghost. Instead, she continued to inspect the pendant. It was definitely hers. She could still see the faded engraving on the back and she ran her fingers over it reverently. "You're in a mood. What did Derek do?"

That got Chloe's head to turn. "Why would you assume Derek did something?"

"Because you usually bitchier when _he's_ being a dick to you."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. She was being baited. Mila merely stared back at her, eyes twinkling. Jaw clenching, she turned away with the pendant still clutched in her hand. It was then that she became aching aware that she was standing there only in a towel. The blush was inevitable after that. Quickly, she moved to the dresser and grabbed a change of clothes before slipping into the washroom to make a quick change away from the brown-haired girl. When Chloe opened the door, she was fully clothed this time with her arms settling crossed over her chest.

"So you aren't going to tell me what he did?" Mila asked conversationally and got a glare in response. "I was just asking, jeez."

"Why are you here?" Chloe countered, plopping herself gracelessly onto the bed. "I thought you were spying on people."

"I was. But I got bored. So I decided to check in." There was pause as the two of them looked at each other. Chloe arched an eyebrow and Mila sighed. "Okay, I was worried. You weren't looking so hot earlier."

"I'm fine."

"You weren't before."

"But I am now."

"No, you're better now. You aren't fine." Mila's eyes unfocused for a moment before coming back into focus. "Even your glow is duller than usual."

Chloe rolled her eyes, absently running her fingers over her pendant still clutched in her hand. "I don't even understand what my glow really is, so I'm not basing my health off of it. Now tell me what you've learnt."

It wasn't much. There's only so much one ghost can do when she has to spy on two different people, especially since she wasn't even a full day in yet. Most of the things that Mila had seen were menial tasks like grading papers or preparing for lesson plans. Nothing that stood out as suspicious behavior other than a heating phone call Karavan had that she partially overheard. Something about a package needing to be picked up sooner. They seemed normal and if Chloe hadn't heard the conversation that they had last night herself, she wouldn't believe that the two of them might be involved in this Supernatural mess. But she had and while she didn't think they were against them, she needed proof before they decided anything. And to get that proof, they would have to watch and wait.

Mila hovered for a bit longer before she left. She meant well, Chloe knew. The ghost was just worried that her memories were more than she could bare. But there wasn't anything that she could do to help and the blonde just wanted some time to herself. So she didn't feel bad at all when she sent Mila away. She merely picked up _Necromanica_ _,_ turned on her laptop and, with one last glance at her necklace, got down to work.

She wasn't sure how long it was before a soft knock made her look up. She stared at the door for a moment, certain that she was just hearing things. _Who the hell would be knocking at… what time is it?_ A glance out her window proved to be fruitless. It had already been dark when she had woken from her nap in the early evening, which wasn't surprising given the fact that it was late fall. The subtle deepening of the colours that signaled time always went unnoticed by her. Another knock came, this time louder. She merely stared at the door this time, waiting. She didn't know what for but she was waiting. And then it hit her. A jolt of pain that had the air rushing out of her chest.

 _Derek_ _._

She stared at the door for a long moment—long enough that she half expected him to leave—before she got up and unlocked the door, pulling it open to reveal a very sorry looking werewolf. He somehow managed to look worse off than he had before dinner, if it was possible. His hair was once again matted in sweat and his complexion had paled so much that she was worried that he would faint at her doorstep. As it was, he using the doorjamb to support his weight and he still looked seconds from falling over. When feverish green met blue, she knew. He was Changing. Now.

"Chloe, I—" he started but she had already turned around to disappear into the room. His fear licked her in the back as she pocketed her pendant and, after half a second of hesitation, pulled on his sweater over her top before moving back to the door. He watched her slip on her shoes and close the door behind her. "Thank—"

"Don't."

They made it out of the school and to the clearing in record time. Because while Derek could barely keep himself upright, he knew the best way out without being seen. They didn't come across another person the entire way, which was for the best. Derek looked like he was going to start Changing any second. She could see the muscles moving and slithering under his shirt and saw just that as he stripped off his shirt when they reached the clearing. She turned away, cheeks scarlet as she averted her gaze.

Another harsh stab of pain made her turn around sharply, just in time to see Derek, now standing in only a pair of shorts, sway forward dangerously as his clothes fluttered to the ground around him. Rushing over, she tried to catch him. Not that it did much good, he had at least a hundred pounds on her. She did manage to help slow his descent enough that he was able to catch himself on his knees, though it was still with enough force that he grunted and she hissed as her own hit the ground just as hard.

"Sorry," he mumbled, but his voice sounded different. Like his vocal chords had already started changing. "I'm sorry."

"It's just a scraped knee, it's fine." It was the first words that she had said since she had left her room. Derek shook his head, hair hanging in his face as he blinked rapidly at her. "Come on, you need—"

"I don't just—I mean earlier with—" he cut off with a groan and Chloe eased out from under his arm just as he turned and retched up anything that he had left in his stomach. Not that there could be much. He hadn't eaten dinner and hadn't eaten even half of what he normally did at lunch. But there was still enough in there that he painted the grass with his vomit. He braced himself with his hands catching his breath before he tried again. "Earlier. In the room. I just—I get so…about you, it's—"

"We can talk later. Just…" Chloe struggled to find the right words. "Make it through this first."

"Yeah. Later. Good," he breathed, sounding relieved.

There weren't much words said after that. Derek kept throwing up until his stomach was empty, dry heaves still racking him even after there was nothing left. She watched, helpless, as his back shot into the air at that inhumanely high angle once again, tearing a whimper from his throat as it did. All the while his muscles still rippled, black fur started to shoot out through pores that opened up so wide it looked like his skin had completely split open. All other thoughts flew out of her head as she moved to him, smoothing her hands over his back and whispering encouragement, the ire of before forgotten in the face of the pain that he was enduring.

The Change went by faster this time. The didn't mean that it was any less painful. She felt every wave—every agonizing piece of it—hit her with enough force that she was barely holding back whimpers of her own. And she knew that she was only getting a fraction of the pain that he was feeling. It still seemed like it was no time at all before Derek was standing in front of her as a black wolf with startling green eyes instead of the boy that she had developed feelings for. Chloe leaned back, easing her hands out of his fur as he lowered himself to the ground. Well, less lowered than fall to the ground from exhaustion.

She sat back on her haunches, watching him carefully. He didn't notice; his breathing had evened out and his eyes were closed, seemingly having fallen asleep after the entire ordeal. Not that she blamed him; it had taken a lot of him. She didn't even consider leaving this time, knowing without a doubt that either he would wake up and stop her like he did last time, or he wouldn't wake up and she'd actually leave him. Plus, despite how pissed off she might be at him—though her anger was definitely waning—she couldn't bare the thought of him having to change back without someone here with him. It made something in her just hurt. So she sat and waited.

The sound of a twig snapping in the distance made her jump, head spinning around to look into the edges of the clearing. There was an eerie quality to the area tonight that hadn't been there when she had first stumbled onto Derek. Then, it had been beautiful, lit by the soft light of the moon that streamed in through the leaves of the overhanging trees. It had been almost otherworldly, in all actuality. Now, though, with the moon hidden behind clouds and only peeking out occasionally, it held a darker quality. Still otherworldly, but with the way they were surrounded by shadows now, it felt sinister.

"You're being paranoid, Chloe," she muttered to herself. Shaking her head, she tried to wave off those types of thoughts. Almost succeeding until the snap of another twig made her head turn again. And it was definitely closer this time. "Fuck."

She glanced back at Derek, and realized that he still hadn't moved. She would be worried that he wasn't breathing, less it be for the way that his shoulders rose and fell. But he was definitely out cold and she was loath to wake him just because she was overly suspicious about a broken twig. So she steeled her nerves and got up, careful not to rouse him.

 _You could just use your powers to scope the area_ , a small voice pointed out in her head. Immediately, she shot it down. It was one thing to absently feel the forces around her, it was another to differentiate them, to pick them apart to figure out what each was. Chloe was terrified what would happen when she actually tried to focus on one of them. The thought of accidentally raising something or someone brought a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold that cut through her sweater.

Chloe reached the end of the clearing and paused, looking back at Derek. He hadn't moved. She took a step out and held her breath.

Nothing.

Another step.

Nothing.

She took another few steps to be sure, even though with every step away from the clearing, the tenser she got.

A sudden movement to the left had her inhaling sharply and Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when a bunny took off running to her left, making her whirl in that direction. A hand clutched at her heart as she leaned against the closest tree to catch her breath. See? Paranoid. She had hoped that finding out that she was just overthinking would help release the tension that had formed in her shoulders from the moment the first twig snapped. It didn't.

She turned to go back and nearly had another heart attack when she saw the black wolf that was standing a few steps off to her right.

"Jesus motherfucking _Christ,_ don't do that!" she hissed as she pressed a hand to her chest again. At this rate, her heart was going to stop beating completely before the night was through. "Make noise or something, for fuck's sake. Before you—"

Her voice cut off as the wolf took a step closer and growled at her. Something about it sounded off. She knew that if he woke up before she got back, he would be pissed and growling always came with a pissed Derek, but this was different. His growls never scared her. They might startle her with their suddenness, but never scared her, not really. This growl had made the hair on her arms and neck raise in alarm. As if to confirm her initial reaction, the moon chose that moment to push from behind the clouds. The canopy of leaves wasn't as dense as in the clearing, so when the light shone through, she could see clear as day that that wasn't Derek. It was definitely a big black wolf; bigger than any ones she had ever seen in a zoo before coming here. But the eyes staring back at her weren't green; they were pitch black, swallowing the light around it completely.

 _Definitely not Derek_ _._

The wolf took another step forward and she immediately stepped backwards, mind panicked and blanking on what it should. The wolf growled again, so loud this time that it vibrated the earth around her and goosebumps broke out on her skin from fear. Her mouth open, intent to scream for help, or at the very least alert Derek to the danger. But she never got the chance to even get the words out of her mouth before something heavy hit her in the back of the head with startling force. The ground came rushing at her at a startling pace and then the world went dark.

* * *

 **R and R if it pleases you. Have a Merry Christmas. Don't mind the cliff hanger. Toodles.**


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